New California coronavirus guidance: Masks might help, but no substitute for staying home
Some evidence shows wearing a face covering may reduce spread of coronavirus, but masks are still no substitute for physical distancing, California’s top public health official said Wednesday, outlining new official guidance.
Although there’s some evidence masks could slow the spread of the virus by blocking some saliva droplets, California Department of Public Health Director Sonia Angell stopped short of saying all Californians should start wearing them.
“There may be some benefits from using (face coverings), but only when they’re used well,” Angell said during state officials’ daily coronavirus briefing. For example, wearing a mask could give someone a false sense of security, which could be dangerous if it leads someone to stop following guidelines on physical distancing, hand washing, or face touching, she said.
But the guidance represents a shift in tone for California officials, who had previously discouraged members of the general public from buying and wearing masks.
The new guidance is not an invitation for people to defy the state’s stay-at-home order, nor encouragement for people to try to buy surgical and N95 masks needed by health workers, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
Although early numbers indicate California may be slowing its rate of infection, Newsom has declined to declare California’s efforts to “flatten the curve” a success.
The state’s stay-at-home order, which has shuttered nonessential businesses like bars and hair salons, has bought the state’s hospitals time to prepare for a surge in COVID-19 patients, state officials say. But rapidly escalating hospitalization and intensive care unit rates for coronavirus patients show the state isn’t out of the woods.
More than 1,800 people with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 respiratory illness are hospitalized. Roughly 774 are in intensive care, Newsom said.
“Those numbers represent our most urgent need in terms of keeping people alive,” Newsom said.
Statewide data shows more than 180 people have died.
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 1:25 PM.