Mask Bans Grow, Threatening Public Health And Immunocompromised People
The CDC has just changed its assessment of Covid-19 risks from saying it is primarily a seasonal, winter respiratory infection to noting that there are also summer peaks. It is, therefore, even more disturbing that a number of cities and states are choosing to promote mask bans. Here’s where those policies have taken hold.
North Carolina
In North Carolina, the General Assembly passed bill HB 237, previously called Unmasking Mobs and Criminals. It said it is illegal to mask in public unless you have a contagious disease. (Note: There is no exemption for preventing disease, asthma, or other medical problems). Republicans said the law was passed as a response to masking at college campuses by protestors against the war in Gaza. The law also increases the penalties if a person commits a crime while wearing a mask. Yet if they obtained a permit, the KKK could hold masked rallies.
Democratic State Rep. Maria Cervania is an epidemiologist as well as a legislator. In an interview, she said that the worst part is that “any property owner or occupant of that property can tell you you need to take off your mask.” Further, “law enforcement can ask you to take off your mask for any reason.” The Democratic Governor, Roy Cooper, vetoed this bill, and the GOP legislature overrode his veto.
The GOP knows “that this is not based in medical facts,” Cervania added. “It’s not based on individual rights and freedoms. It’s not based on people being able to make their own decisions about their health, the health of their loved ones.” “This is all politics,” Cervania concluded, and “passing this doesn’t protect our people.”
Chicago And Philadelphia
In Chicago, Alderman Raymond Lopez proposed language identical to North Carolina’s. It has yet to advance.
The Defender Association of Philadelphia, a non-profit group of attorneys, offered different perspectives. They counter that these “dress code” solutions are ineffective crime deterrents.” They also give “additional pretext for law enforcement to surveil young people of color,” leading to more incarceration and compromising their socioeconomic futures. Some of the young people wear ski masks as a fashion statement, they note. Sadly, “many wear them at times because they’re afraid of being recognized by other people who intend to do them harm.”
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New York City
Eric Adams, New York City’s Democratic mayor, has long been a proponent of facial recognition and surveillance cameras. In June, Adams stated, “I’m a strong supporter of the decision of stopping of masks on our subway system, masks in protest, and masks in other areas where it’s not health related.” Ignoring health concerns, Adams said “people “have hid under the guise of wearing a mask for COVID to commit criminal acts and vile acts. I think now is the time to go back to the way it was pre-COVID.”
But even early in 2023, Adams urged store owners to “not allow people to enter the store without taking off their face mask.” At that time, NYC still “reported a daily average of 611 new cases and 24 new hospitalizations” per week. The city’s health department stated, “We strongly recommend everyone to wear masks in all indoor public settings.” Requiring immunocompromised people to unmask would likely violate the Americans With Disabilities Act.
In response to a pro-Palestinian threat on the NYC subway, Governor Kathy Hochul has strongly supported mask bans. She said, “We will not tolerate individuals using masks to evade responsibility for criminal or threatening behavior,” adding, “On a subway, people should not be able to hide behind a mask to commit crimes.” She indicated the ban was a response to antisemitic attacks and came as a response to demands from some Jewish leaders, particularly in the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Community Relations Council.
Such arguments, however, don’t account for the fact that subways and other closed or crowded spaces are precisely where you might want to protect yourself from Covid-19, for example.
But Julie Lam, founder of Mask Together America, understands this and is a seemingly tireless advocate for masking and protecting immunocompromised people. Her site and X (Twitter) stream is full of suggestions for activism. For example, she suggests sending letters to all your elected officials and offers a template. Similarly, her advocacy group has an extensive toolkit, “Stop Mask Bans,” as does Covid Advocacy NY here.
Los Angeles
Prompted by a pro-Palestinian protest at an Los Angeles synagogue that turned violent, the city’s mayor, Karen Bass, is the latest to join the anti-mask bandwagon. Ironically, just a few days later, Bass became ill with Covid-19. She has the luxury both of working from home and having sick leave.
Change In Covid Pattern
Because of the change in seasonality, CDC recommends that “vulnerable” people, such as those who are age 65 or older, immunocompromised, or pregnant receive an additional Covid-19 vaccination this summer. They will likely recommend boosters every six months for these groups. Despite the fact that Covid-19 has airborne spread, they only recommend masking under “additional strategies,” yet place handwashing as a “core” strategy. They came out with this latest advice at a time when Covid-19 cases are again steadily rising.
Lack of masking remains a particular problem in hospitals, where immunocompromised patients risk getting a hospital-acquired Covid-19 infection. Some hospitals, like Massachusetts General and UCSF, have made masking for staff optional.
Opposition To Mask Bans
First, addressing the claim that mask bans are necessary for facial recognition and societal safety, growing data shows that face masks are less effective than sunglasses in masking face identity. Another study claims “Convolutional Neural Networks are highly capable of learning features and accurately identifying the image, even when the only fully visible part of the face is the eyes.”
There has been widespread opposition to the proposed mask bans on a number of grounds. A Los Angeles Times editorial says a ban “would probably violate the 1st Amendment right to expression.” It notes that many would want to avoid police surveillance and protect their privacy.
Lucky Tran, Ph.D., a science communicator based in New York and an organizer with COVID Advocacy NY., summed up the mask ban succinctly:
He points out a number of fallacies in the pro-mask arguments. For one, people of color wear masks at a higher rate, and it is a societal norm in some Asian countries. In an interview, Tran noted, “There is no evidence bans increase safety,” but there is considerable data that it increases anti-Asian attacks.
The lack of coverage of this issue in the media “plays into the larger minimization of the pandemic and ongoing impacts of Covid,” Tran added. “Mask bans stigmatize mask wearing.” Health exemptions are very vague and narrow, and “they put too much power into authorities who are likely to abuse that,” he added. It will “lead to criminalization and further marginalization of impacted communities.”
Tran reserved his most biting criticism for the proposed bans coming at the same time that Hochul and Adams are professing concern about climate change — New York City is suffering from a heat wave — stating, “It seems absolutely hypocritical that they’re banning masks at a time that they’re warning people about air quality,” since “masks are one of the best ways to protect yourself against wildfire smoke.”
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, echoed Tran’s concerns. In terms of immunocompromised people, she said (via email), “As we continue to grapple with COVID-19, a mask ban might well make subways more dangerous, exile people at high risk from public spaces, and open up people trying to protect themselves to harassment.”
She urged New Yorkers to demand their elected officials listen to their constituents. “Making calls and sending letters and emails reminding their local legislators and the Governor of the harms of a mask ban can make a real difference. A mask ban is a dangerous overreach that would stifle political speech, criminalize dissent, and, if past is prologue, lead to arbitrary, selective enforcement against people of color and protestors the police disagree with.”
Finally, there is a thoughtful, open letter from Jews for Mask Rights, in response to Hochul claiming the bans are being “demanded” by Jewish leaders in response to rising antisemitism, signed by more than 1,030 Jews, of whom 140+ are leaders. They summarize:
“Jewish tradition prioritizes the sanctity and protection of life, above all else. Jews are not permitted to endanger our own or others’ lives or behave in ways likely to spread illness or cause death. We have an obligation to protect the life and health of others. The principle of pikuach nefesh — ‘saving a life’ — prioritizes preserving human life over virtually all else. …Wearing a mask is a mitzvah [good deed]. Forbidding it puts Jews at odds with our tradition, violating both our religious freedom and physical safety.”
Governor Kathy Hochul, Eric Adams, and the CDC did not respond to requests for comment about the mask bans.
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I am an Infectious Disease specialist and author of Resilience: One Family’s Story of Hope and Triumph over Evil and of Conducting Clinical Research.
