Title: Expressing support for the designation of August 7 through 14, 2020, as World Mask Week, and encouraging all Americans to wear appropriate face coverings to protect themselves and to protect older Americans or others with health conditions that increase the risks of serious illness due to COVID-19.
Policy area: Health

Summary:
This resolution supports the designation of World Mask Week and encourages Americans to wear face coverings and take other preventive measures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) and the virus that causes the disease.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1084 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1084

Expressing support for the designation of August 7 through 14, 2020, as 
World Mask Week, and encouraging all Americans to wear appropriate face 
   coverings to protect themselves and to protect older Americans or 
   others with health conditions that increase the risks of serious 
                        illness due to COVID-19.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 14, 2020

Mr. Schiff (for himself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Soto, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. 
     Moulton, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Thompson of California, Ms. Lee of 
California, and Ms. Sherrill) submitted the following resolution; which 
          was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing support for the designation of August 7 through 14, 2020, as 
World Mask Week, and encouraging all Americans to wear appropriate face 
   coverings to protect themselves and to protect older Americans or 
   others with health conditions that increase the risks of serious 
                        illness due to COVID-19.

Whereas cloth face coverings, or nonmedical masks, serve as a barrier to SARS-
        CoV-2-carrying droplets, helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and 
        save lives;
Whereas a substantial portion of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 are 
        asymptomatic or presymptomatic and can transmit the virus to others when 
        they do not know they are infected;
Whereas research conducted long before the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the 
        utility of wearing masks in providing protection against the 
        transmission of respiratory infections;
Whereas various types of cloth masks, including masks made of cotton, gauze, and 
        other fabrics, reduced infection rates among health care workers and 
        others during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 and the Manchurian plague 
        of 1920 through 1921, and were used by health care workers and others to 
        protect against tuberculosis in the 1930s and 1940s;
Whereas a model projection of COVID-19 deaths by the Institute for Health 
        Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington showed if 95 
        percent of people in the United States wore a mask in public spaces, 
        nearly 34,000 fewer people would die from the disease;
Whereas, on April 3, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
        recommended all individuals two years of age and older and medically 
        able to wear a mask, wear nonmedical, cloth masks in public settings and 
        when around people who don't live in their household;
Whereas a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
        from May 11 through May 13, 2020, found that 76 percent of adults 
        support mask-wearing outside of the home;
Whereas a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on 
        July 17, 2020, found no secondary cases of COVID-19 in 139 mask-wearing 
        clients of two mask-wearing hair stylists with confirmed cases of COVID-
        19;
Whereas to suppress COVID-19 transmission, the World Health Organization advises 
        governments to encourage the general public to use nonmedical cloth 
        masks as part of a comprehensive disease control strategy in areas of 
        widespread transmission;
Whereas countries in Southeast Asia with a strong mask-wearing culture like 
        Japan and the Republic of South Korea have been far more successful in 
        controlling COVID-19, experiencing few cases and lower mortality levels 
        without instituting severe restrictions on their populations;
Whereas raising awareness about the effectiveness of everyone wearing cloth 
        masks when in public would encourage the adoption of mask-wearing, help 
        to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and save lives both at home and 
        abroad;
Whereas one recent economic analysis estimated that universal masking could save 
        five percent of GDP, or one trillion dollars, by making lockdowns 
        unnecessary and getting people back to work earlier; and
Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Pandemic Action 
        Network are partnering with more than 40 organizations to host World 
        Mask Week from August 7 through 14, 2020, in an effort to increase the 
        use of face coverings across the globe: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the designation of World Mask Week;
            (2) encourages Americans to wear appropriate face coverings 
        in situations where social distancing is difficult or 
        impossible, particularly in indoor environments, both to 
        protect themselves and to protect older Americans or others 
        with health conditions that increase the risks of serious 
        illness due to COVID-19;
            (3) recognizes that mask-wearing should be coupled with 
        other measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control 
        and Prevention and State and local public health agencies, 
        including frequent handwashing and physical distancing, to 
        further reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission; and
            (4) encourages following the consensus advice of public 
        health experts to wear face coverings to meaningfully reduce 
        transmission rates for COVID-19, resulting in fewer deaths, 
        fewer Americans made seriously ill, and lower economic 
        disruption.
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