Governor Wolf Orders All PA Residents To Wear Masks In Essential Businesses

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s order that all employees and customers of essential businesses across the state must wear masks came into effect at 8 p.m. on Sunday, April 19^th. Because COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory illness that spreads primarily through close contact from person-to-person and through the respiratory droplets of an infected person, the Governor hopes that the order to wear masks will help slow the spread of transmission and infection rates through the state.

Governor Wolf’s order has certain important exceptions. Essential businesses must deny entry to customers who are not wearing a mask unless the business is one that provides medical supplies, medication, or food (like grocery stores and pharmacies). Businesses that provide these items must give customers without masks an alternate method for pick-up or delivery of their goods. In some cases, a business may have its own stock of masks and supply them to customers in need – but this is not a requirement. Additionally, some people should not wear masks for health and safety reasons. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say that everyone going out in public should wear a mask except for:

• Children under 2-years-old, and:
• People who have difficulty breathing, are incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove a mask without assistance

Why Does Wearing A Mask Help?

Wearing a mask protects other people from getting sick – it does not protect the wearer from contracting the virus. COVID-19 is usually accompanied by symptoms like fever, shortness of breath, and cough, but symptoms can take anywhere from 2 to 14 days to appear. Even people infected with the Coronavirus who are not experiencing symptoms can spread the illness to others – and this is where wearing a mask comes into play. Not only can wearing a mask limit the amount of respiratory droplets spread between people, but it also helps individuals who do not know they have the virus but who are indeed infected from unwittingly passing it on to others.

If you are a resident in the state of Pennsylvania and want to learn more about Governor Wolf’s order, you can visit here. Officials are also telling residents to call 311 if they see a business that is not enforcing the order. Businesses that fail to comply will face fines, license suspensions, and citations for not doing their part to keep their customers and employees safe.

If you want to learn how to make a mask, visit here.

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