Raimondo: Wear a mask or else

PROVIDENCE – Borrowing a line from a popular credit card company, Gov. Gina Raimondo Tuesday advised Rhode Islanders to get used to the idea of treating face masks the same way they do their wallets and car keys.

“Don’t leave home without it,” Raimondo said, especially after Friday.

As Raimondo prepares to ease the state toward a heightened level of economic activity, that’s when a new executive order takes effect making face masks mandatory garb for all residents of the state, in all public places, indoors and out. The state will be prepared to issue civil fines for scofflaws, she said.

The new guidance on face masks came after another day of data suggesting the spread of COVID-19 has begun to plateau. With nearly 2,300 people tested the day before, the Rhode Island Department of Health logged 281 new cases and 14 more fatalities. That brings the total number of infections reported since March 1 to 9,993, with 355 total fatalities.

It was “good news,” the governor said – certainly better than what’s coming out of some other parts of the country – and Rhode Islanders should be proud of their role in curbing the spread of COVID-19. Their diligent compliance with sound health practices and social distancing directives are responsible for tamping down the virus and saving lives.

“So I feel good,” she said. “I feel good...in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, I feel good about where we are. I hope you take part in that.”

But Raimondo said as she prepares to lift the general stay-at-home order, effective Sunday, she knows Rhode Islanders will be mingling more, which brings added risk. More workers will be returning to job sites, Raimondo said, but “going back to work is definitely not going back to normal.”

Reopening the economy

will come with new restrictions to keep people safe, and one will be mandatory face masks. Presently, masks are required for all employees of customer-facing businesses and optional – albeit strongly recommended – for anyone who patronizes those establishments.

“We have to embrace new ways of living our life so we can live with the virus and that means being creative and being flexible,” Raimondo said. “The best way to get through this is to really accept that the virus is here to stay with us for at least a year until there’s a vaccine or a therapy. Accept that, accept that we’re going to have to live life within new limits which none of us really likes.”

Raimondo says May 9 will be the beginning of Phase 1 of reopening the economy and starting then, she said “we’re going to have to do a better job with our face-mask wearing.”

She anticipates much confusion surrounding the new guidance on masks, all of which will be in writing by Friday. A few details emerged yesterday, however, including

the fact that police will have the power to ticket scofflaws and that masks will be mandatory for anyone patronizing a restaurant drive-through. She said the executive order will spell out exceptions from the requirement for the developmentally impaired or others with medical conditions that prohibit them from wearing a mask.

But for everyone else, Raimondo said a face mask should be as essential as the keys to the car or a wallet.

She said common sense should prevail about when it can be safely removed in public places, like parks. Out for a bike ride with the family? A solo jog in the park? As long as there’s more than six feet between yourself and others who might be sharing the space, it’s okay to take it off, Raimondo said.

But everyone should carry a face mask on the off-chance they’ll get close to someone unexpectedly, no matter where they happen to be.

“Keep it in your pocket... Don’t leave home without it, as they say,” the governor said. “You might find yourself within six feet of somebody else.

It’s just the right thing to do to be a good neighbor and a good Rhode Islander to then, at that point, pop on your face mask.”

The governor said she recognizes that wearing a mask be seem “awkward, strange, maybe, some people think, not necessary,” but it works to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

“I know that the virus spreads very quickly. I know many other cities, countries and states have gotten into really bad situations with overwhelmed healthcare systems when the virus ran away from them,” Raimondo said. “I know we’re going to be putting our foot back on the gas pedal and letting folks get back to work and we’re all going to be around people more often. I also know if you cover your nose and your mouth it does have a significant impact on reducing the spread of the disease.”

Reinforcing the governor’s message, Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander Scott said masks are effective in capturing the tiny COVID-19 pathogens that travel on bodily fluids. Typically, the path of transmission is coughing or sneezing, but it can also be released in far less obvious ways by people who are basically asymptomatic, which is another important reason for wearing a mask.

“It’s important to know just one single cough can result in a person spreading 3,000 droplets and the droplets are what the virus can be carried in and land on surfaces and other items or on people if you’re close enough,” Alexander Scott said.

Ultimately, Alexander Scott said face masks are an act of goodwill that should be regarded as “a new way of being for us in Rhode Island.” When she sees people wearing masks, “I see people acting to protect their fellow Rhode Islanders – that’s actually what we are saying now we use some form of clothbased covering.”

During Phase 1 of the restoration of economic activity, some employers won’t be doing things very differently than they have since midMarch, Raimondo said, and the state of Rhode Island will be one of them, at least in some departments.

Raimondo said the Department of Human Services and Department of Labor and Training field offices will remain closed as workers continue to carry out functions remotely through phone banks. The Division of Motor Vehicles will remain closed except for the main office in Cranston, which is offering limited services by appointment only.

By the end of Phase 1, Raimondo said one more field office of the DMV may open for appointment-only service, but she didn’t say which one. Woonsocket has the second-busiest DMV branch in the state.

Phase 1 of the recovery process is expected to last about two weeks, at which point the governor envisions ramping up economic activity a bit more in a slow, incremental lurch toward a condition resembling normal.