Mask Use Has Become Less Common, More Situational Since Height Of Pandemic

The AP (12/17, Hajela) reports that use of face masks in the US appears to have declined since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, the article says, “look at it a different way, though: These days, mask-wearing has become just another thing that simply happens in America. In a country where the mention of a mask prior to the pandemic usually meant Halloween or a costume party, it’s a new way of being that hasn’t gone away even if most people aren’t doing it regularly.” Now, mask use “tends to be situational, like the recent decision from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center hospital system to reinstate a mask mandate at its facilities starting Dec. 20 because it’s seeing an increase in respiratory viruses.”