Courtesy of the Ford County Public Health Department

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a new recommendation to help slow the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While health experts are still studying the spread and effects of COVID-19, the CDC reports new evidence from recent studies show “A significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms (“asymptomatic”) and that even those who eventually develop symptoms (“presymptomatic”) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms.

This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity—for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing—even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms.” When should I wear a face covering? All Illinoisans should wear a mask or face covering when they must leave their home or report to work for essential operations and they either cannot or it is impractical to maintain 6 feet of physical distance between themselves and others.

Examples include: • Shopping at essential businesses, like grocery stores or pharmacies, • Picking up food from the drive thru or curbside pickup, • While visiting your health care provider, • Traveling on public transportation, • Interacting with customers, clients, or coworkers at essential businesses, • Performing essential services for state and local government agencies, such as laboratory testing, where close interactions with other people are unavoidable, and • When feeling sick, coughing, or sneezing. Who should wear a face covering? All individuals are advised to wear face coverings in public, except children younger than 2 years of age, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the cover without assistance.

94.1 WGFA