The enforcement of statewide mask wearing mandates to prevent COVID-19 in the US: an overview.

ABSTRACT: Face masks have become the bulwark of COVID-19 prevention in the US.  Between 10 April and 1 August, 2020, 33 state governors issued orders requiring businesses to require their customers and employees to wear face masks, and persons outdoors who could not social distance  to do the same. We documented the policies and enforcement actions for these policies in each of the states.  We used governors' orders and journalists' news reports as our sources. Our results show that the states used a variety of state and local (county and municipality) agencies to enforce business prevention behaviors and primarily local  law enforcement agencies to enforce outside mask-wearing behaviours. In particular, law enforcement officers demonstrated a strong preference for educating non-mask wearers, and in

SUBMITTER: Jacobs P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7818140 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature