A debate rages in New York, where COVID-19 has claimed more than 20,000 lives: exactly where and when to wear the mask.
Since April 17, the state of New York obliges everyone to cover his face in any place where he cannot keep a distance of at least two meters of people who do not live with them. Only those under two years of age or people who can prove a medical reason are excepted.
In New Jersey and Connecticut, and more recently in Massachusetts, a similar rule applies. The United Kingdom, for example, established that people must cover their noses and mouths in shops, buses and the subway.
But although the rule is clear, each New Yorker interprets it in their own way.
It is not uncommon to see groups of walkers in parks and essential workers, even police officers, who let their masks hang even when walking on sidewalks in the midst of other people or talking to each other. Those who use them the least they are the ones who exercise outdoors.
As the warm weather invites you to leave the house, the chances of clashes between believers in masks and skeptics grow.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has stated that it is okay to remove protection while one walks alone, but you must put it on if someone approaches. He even claimed that he claimed a man who was without a mask while walking his dog.
“We were in disagreement and the situation, the conversation, became a bit tense. That’s why I ended the conversation, ”he said.
Elissa Stein, a 55-year-old graphic designer and activist living in Manhattan, made T-shirts printed with a somewhat crude version of the ‘wear your mask’ legend. She said that many look at her when she wears one of them, but it’s worth it, given the stakes.
“It should not be something that is taken lightly. This is not a joke,” he remarked.
State regulation does not impose penalties for not wearing a mask. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he prefers education to sanction.
Messages from other politicians are often confusing.
President Donald Trump has ruled out wearing it in public, but on Monday the White House ordered everyone in the West Wing, the presidential office sector, to wear it since staff members were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
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