Why Mayor Eric Adams told New York shoppers to lower face masks despite Covid-19

It looks like wearing face masks in New York City (NYC) is about to get even more complicated. The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) website still states, “We strongly encourage everyone to wear masks in all indoor public spaces to reduce the spread of these viruses,” presumably based on a number of studies, who have shown this face mask use can reduce the transmission of the covid-19 coronavirus. But on a 1010 VICTORIES Radio interview Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams didn’t exactly agree with the Health Department’s recommendations. Instead, he urged, “We’re making a clear call to all our stores, don’t let people enter the store without removing their face mask.” He continued, “And once they’re inside, they can continue to wear it if they.” wish this.”

Wait, why did Adams tell people to take their face masks off during the Covid-19 pandemic? Well, in another interview on Monday, a TV interview with PIX11He further explained, “Let’s be clear, some of these characters are going into stores wearing their mask, they’re not doing it because they’re scared of the pandemic, they’re doing it because they’re scared of the police.” He added: “We must stop allowing them to take advantage of the security of the pandemic by wearing masks and committing crimes.”

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By “some of these characters,” Adams may have been referring to a “hazmat-wearing marksman wanted in four robberies, one of which was fatal,” as the following tweet reveals PIX 11 news stated:

However, Adams did not offer statistics on how many people have actually “exploited” face mask use to commit crimes during the pandemic. It would be helpful to know if he was just referring to a few anecdotal accounts here and there, or a persistent problem. After all, Matt Stopera was once on the list BuzzFeed “The 20 craziest banana crimes,” but no one has urged shoppers to leave their bananas outside stores. And where is the evidence that someone who lowers their face mask prevents that person from committing a crime? How many people on the brink of committing crimes will actually think, “Hmm, now that I have to lower my face mask, maybe I just won’t commit crimes?”

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At the same time, could Adams’ “clear reputation” make things even less clear when it comes to Covid-19 precautions? Although his call for business wasn’t a legally binding requirement, a number of people on social media have expressed concerns that his statements could undermine messaging from the NYC DOHMH and other health officials. For example, Ellie Murray, ScD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, tweeted that “Covid-19 has caused SO much more illness, death, suffering and economic disruption than armed robbery. Unless you might also be counting all the many ways ‘armed robbery’ has been used as a political cover for the *police and government* to harm people.” And Robyn Ruth (@Robyn_TRuth) posted on Twitter, “@NYCMayor Medically vulnerable people often wear a fitness-tested N95 respirator. (It’s sealed for a reason) Forcing immune-compromised people to remove masks violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

In the meantime, Jessica Wildfire tweeted, “Someone who wears a mask commits the fewest crimes. In case you still don’t know, wearing a mask means we really care what happens to people, even those we don’t know,” as you can see here:

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Wearing face masks used to be seen as a sign that you genuinely care about other people. Finally, wearing a face mask can not only protect you, but also prevent you from spreading Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) to others. This has been supported by a number of scientific studies that I have previously and recently covered forbes. But as some politicians and business leaders began to see face mask wearing as a sign that things had not yet returned to normal, they began to politicize face mask use. They began to equate face masks with restrictions on freedom, which in turn has led to the stigma and even outright hostility of many face mask wearers. It was sort of stigmatizing the person who not pee in the pool by saying, “Hey, look at you. Try to hold back your urine and don’t treat the pool like a toilet bowl like everyone else. We are free to pee on or in anything we want.”

To be fair, Adams hasn’t opposed the use of face masks. However, there is a concern that regardless of his intentions, Adam’s phrasing in the radio and television broadcasts could inadvertently send the wrong messages. It could be seen as blaming face masks for crimes. Of all the potential crime prevention measures, asking people to remove their face masks is probably not as high on the list. There seem to be many more things that should be done first, such as: B. further strengthening police protection, changing the environment to make crime less likely, e.g.

Plus, while the NYC DOHMH has strongly recommended wearing “masks in all indoor public spaces,” Adam’s phrasing during the 1010 VICTORIES Radio interview was very different. Again, he said, “Once they’re inside, they can continue to wear it if they wish.” Saying “if they wish” could, in some people’s minds, make face masks look more like a Justin Bieber trope. T-shirt, low-slung jeans or a nose ring sound. It might sound like an accessory that some people just wear, rather than a public health intervention that becomes more effective the more people do it. And whether intentional or not, reducing the use of face masks to this extent is not a good idea until the Covid-19 pandemic is over.

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