Officials launch ‘Mask Up, Montco’ campaign

NORRISTOWN » As public health experts nationwide stress the importance of wearing face coverings to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Montgomery County officials have launched the “Mask Up, Montco” campaign.

“Here in Montgomery County, we need everyone to wear a mask or a face covering anytime you are close to someone who is not a household contact. That is the single most important thing that you can do. The data is now overwhelming,” said county Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, who as a physician has been at the forefront of the county’s efforts to combat COVID-19 and provide citizens with the latest information regarding the outbreak.

“I want to be clear that we did not have this data in the beginning (of the pandemic) and that is why the recommendations were different in the beginning. But we have data that has been accumulating over the course of weeks now and I follow the data and I believe the science and that science is telling us that the single most important thing that any of us can do is wear a mask anytime that you are close to someone that is not your household contact,” Arkoosh added.

Residents can visit www.montcopa.org/COVID-19 and download graphics promoting the “Mask Up, Montco” campaign to share them with others.

“We hope that you’ll do that.

We hope that businesses will post these in their windows and people will share these on their social media. We need to work as a community to make sure that everyone is wearing a mask,” said Arkoosh, a graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine who also has a master’s degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Please continue to think about your actions and what they might mean for our entire community.

“So please don’t leave home without a mask or some kind of face covering. Even if you’re going out for a walk, tie a bandanna around your wrist, stick one in your pocket, just in case you run into one of your neighbors and you want to talk for a few minutes. Just put that face covering on. That is the safest approach that you can take in this moment,” Arkoosh said.

The “Mask Up, Montco” campaign was launched on Wednesday, the same day Gov. Tom Wolf signed an order making masks mandatory in all public spaces. The order signed by state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine