- President Joe Biden, sworn in on Jan. 20, has asked that everyone in the country wear a mask for the first 100 days of his presidency to slow the spread of COVID-19.
- Experts say that if the country complies with that request, it will significantly reduce COVID-19 cases.
- However, they note that the impact may take weeks to materialize, so people may be discouraged and stop wearing masks.
All data and statistics are based on publicly available data at the time of publication. Some information may be out of date.
President Joe Biden has implemented a series of executive actions aimed at curbing the COVID-19 pandemic, including increasing mandated mask-wearing and increasing vaccinations.
Unveiling his national strategy on COVID-19, Biden last week signed 10 executive orders to help bring the COVID pandemic under control.
“Our national strategy is comprehensive. It’s based on science, not politics. It’s based on truth, not denial, and it’s detailed,” Biden said last week.
The executive actions expand on the president’s promise to mandate mask-wearing on federal property. Mask-wearing will now also be compulsory for those traveling interstate on planes, trains, and buses as well as in airports.
Biden has also asked the public to wear masks for the first 100 days of his presidency.
“We’re going to take steps necessary now to slow the spread of the disease as well. One of our 100 day challenges is asking the American people to mask up for the first 100 days,” he said.
“By wearing a mask from now until April, we save 50,000 lives… so I’m asking every American to mask up,” he added.
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, says the orders surrounding masks are as significant symbolically as they are practical.
“(President Biden is) trying to normalize mask-wearing, trying to send a signal. He’s also trying to federalize the response to COVID, which the previous administration had left to the various states. It’s a symbolic matter, but it’s also something that’s important in real-time,” Schaffner told Healthline.
“He and his team will model wearing-masks, so that will change the whole tenor, the whole environment,” he added. “If people in authority, people who are admired, model the appropriate behavior, I think we can slowly, slowly persuade people who have been reluctant or even disdainful of wearing masks to join the rest of us.”
But getting the public to universally wear masks, experts say, won’t be easy.
A recent study from the University of Southern California found that in early December, two-thirds of Americans reported being in close contact with someone outside their house. However, only half said they wore masks.
“We’re a very divided country, and I think the response will be divided. These are attitudes that are really baked in, and changing attitudes, feelings, emotions… is a large task,” Schaffner said.
Dr. Anne Liu is an infectious disease physician at Stanford Health Care in California.
She said the amount of opposition to public health recommendations has been disheartening.
“I’m feeling a little discouraged by the amount of not just disregard for public health recommendations but also the amount of intensity people have expressed against public health recommendations,” Liu told Healthline.
“I’m really worried about how long this could continue to drag out because of these really intrenched beliefs now,” Liu added.
“But I hope there is some margin there. I hope there is some percentage of people in different places who will change their behavior, who are not so entrenched, who will hear consistent messaging and take that to heart,” she said.
Clear public health messaging, experts say, is crucial in securing cooperation from the public.
“The messaging has really changed throughout the pandemic, and it’s been very confusing, so I think what this is, is an opportunity to reset communication of optimal prevention strategies. Masking for the first 100 days is kind of catchy and may be useful,” Dr. Dean Blumberg, head of pediatric infectious disease at the University of California Davis, told Healthline.
“What I’m hoping is maybe if we do focus on masks and maybe not focus on all these other complicated rules, maybe that will be simpler, maybe that will be a more effective communication tool,” he added.
Source: healthline