Washington, D.C., residents wear are not required to wear face coverings every time they leave the house with few exceptions.
Masks were previously not required for people outdoors if they could maintain a 6-foot distance from others, but Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Wednesday executive order expands the mandate to include most instances. Exceptions include children under 3, when one is eating or drinking, and when one is exercising away from others or working alone in an office.
“Basically what it says is, if you leave home, you should wear a mask,” Bowser said at a news conference, according to the Hill. “This means, if you’re waiting for a bus, you must have on a mask. If you are ordering food at a restaurant, you must have on a mask. If you’re sitting in a cubicle in an open office, you must have on a mask.”
She also noted that “there will be enforcement language in the order,” although details of that are unclear.
6/ Lastly, it’s simple: Wear a mask. Save lives. Stop the spread. pic.twitter.com/hLotrKzOGe
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) July 22, 2020
The District of Columbia has had about 11,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 580 deaths, according to the latest tally by the New York Times.
Bowser’s move to expand her mask order comes the same day as Baltimore Mayor Jack Young signed an order suspending indoor dining services and requiring masks be worn indoors for all over the age of two.
There have been more face mask mandates across the U.S. in recent weeks amid surges in coronavirus cases in some areas. President Trump, who has been notably hesitant about his own mask use, recently endorsed face coverings as “patriotic.” After wearing a face mask in public for the first time earlier this month, he posted a photo of himself wearing a mask to Twitter on Monday.
“We are United in our effort to defeat the Invisible China Virus, and many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can’t socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!” he wrote.
