Philly's indoor mask mandate has returned, but a Drexel research scientist says it's 'not sustainable.' “The only path back to normalcy is to clean our indoor air by enhancing ventilation and filtration in Philadelphia’s buildings,” writes Bryan Cummings.
But let’s also be realistic. It is not 2020 anymore. We are all exhausted. Compliance and enforcement of this mandate will be low. And since our neighboring counties are not mandating masks, this policyToggling mask mandates on and off is not sustainable as the city’s only long-term public health strategy. But neither is leaving masking up to individual choice. On their own, both approaches produce economic costs and social inequities.
We cannot continue to fight about saving lives vs. livelihoods — that is a false choice. The only path back to normalcy is to clean our indoor air by enhancing ventilation and filtration in Philadelphia’s buildings, which can remove viral particles from the air before they can be inhaled. Enhancing ventilation and filtration can blunt the impact of future waves and reduce the need for future mask mandates.
“The only path back to normalcy is to clean our indoor air by enhancing ventilation and filtration in Philadelphia’s buildings.”Here’s an analogy. What if Philadelphia did not treat its drinking water, and it was up to us to boil the water that came out of our taps with our own equipment and heating costs? This wouldn’t be sustainable: waterborne disease would spread among those who do not boil thoroughly, and only the most privileged citizens would be well protected.
Today, the mask mandate is a reasonable policy in the absence of clean indoor air. But it’s also not sustainable. We need our government to ensure that our shared air is clean. If it is only up to individuals to filter air with our own masks, even if it is mandated, inequities will persist, many of us will continue to get sick, and this pandemic will drag on.
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