Wolf: PA Mask Mandate May Last Until There's A Vaccine

HARRISBURG, PA — An order requiring Pennsylvanians to wear masks when they are in public could last until there's a vaccine for the coronavirus, Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday.

"I’m sort of thinking this is until we get a vaccine, but I don’t have any real formal goal there," Wolf said while taking questions at an event at the PSECU Child Care Center in Harrisburg. "There are some places where people just wear masks ... . I think it might be a good idea."

Last week, Pennsylvania expanded a mask-wearing order to require masks be worn in any public space, indoors or outdoors, where social distancing cannot be maintained.

The order specifically includes requirements that masks be worn in any public indoor location, while waiting for or riding in public transportation, a taxi or a ride-sharing car, at a hospital, doctor's office or pharmacy and in the workplace.

The order came as Pennsylvania's number of newly reported coronavirus cases, which had dropped to monthslong lows, began creeping up again last week. A big part of the uptick has been reported in the Pittsburgh area, where 218 of Pennsylvania's 450 new coronavirus cases were reported Monday.

"This is something that actually does make you safer," Wolf said Monday. "If we can’t practice social distancing, (a mask) is a really important thing. Models out there suggest that states, areas where people wear masks, the infection rate is actually lower ... . We probably ought to be thinking about this just to keep each other safe."

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