Masks And Coronavirus In Pennsylvania: Take Our Survey

PENNSYLVANIA — The coronavirus pandemic has put a tremendous strain on nearly everyone and everything, and seems to have widened the political divisions so noticeable in American life. Perhaps the most visible sign of these divisions is the debate over the need for masks.

In Pennsylvania, by order of state officials, residents must wear masks when entering any business in both yellow and green phases. Southeastern Pennsylvania is slated to go to the green phase next week.

"Masks are considered critical in stopping the spread of COVID, now and in preparation for a possible resurgence of the virus in the fall," the governor recently said.

The mask requirement is part of the Secretary of Health's worker safety order. "In yellow and green counties, it is required that masks are worn when visiting businesses to protect employees, employees' families, and communities as a whole," Gov. Wolf said. "Mask-wearing has proven to be an important deterrent to the spread of the virus, and as more counties move to green and more things reopen, we need to be vigilant in our efforts to continue our mitigation efforts."

But some have resisted these rules, arguing that they infringe on basic freedoms.

The CDC said face coverings may help slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others.

And Wolf last week pointed to a recent study from Cambridge and Greenwich universities in the United Kingdom found that cloth masks — even homemade masks ' can "dramatically reduce transmission rates if worn by enough people, regardless of whether they show symptoms."

Patch has created this survey to find out what readers think about the mask issue. The survey is not meant to be a scientific poll, with random sampling and margins of error, but is meant only to gauge the sentiments of our readers in an informal way.

The poll will close Wednesday at 10 a.m. Results will be posted later in the day.