WHEN TO USE A MASK

Wear a mask when you are in a public setting, especially when it is difficult to stay 6 feet away from others not living in your household. You should wear a mask in any business or location where the public is allowed indoors.  

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However, if everyone in your household is healthy, you do not need to wear a mask at home or in your personal vehicle.

 

Masks are recommended as a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the mask coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice. This is called source control. This recommendation is based on what we know about the role respiratory droplets play in the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, paired with emerging evidence from clinical and laboratory studies that shows masks reduce the spray of droplets when worn over the nose and mouth. COVID-19 spreads mainly among people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet), so the use of masks is particularly important in settings where people are close to each other or where social distancing is difficult to maintain.