Doctor Says It's Time To Ease Outdoor Mask Orders In MA

MASSACHUSETTS — A prominent doctor is suggesting Massachusetts and communities that have mandated face coverings in outdoor spaces reconsider those rules.

"Transmissions do not take place between solitary individuals going for a walk, transiently passing each other on the street, a hiking trail, or a jogging track. That biker who whizzes by without a mask poses no danger to us, at least from a respiratory virus perspective," Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, wrote in a blog post for the New England Journal of Medicine Monday.

Sax proposes new policies based on "our best understanding of the science of SARS-CoV-2 transmission." He says masks should still be required indoor spaces with poor ventilation, especially crowded spaces where unmasked individuals are "talking, shouting, singing."

But masks should no longer be required outdoors, especially where people can maintain distance. "Masks only needed [outside] for lengthy interactions with others at close distance," Sax writes.

Sax worries that outdoor mask mandates may discourage people from partaking in outdoor activities when public health officials and the media should be encouraging outside social interactions "since they’re so much safer."

Read Sax's complete post on the New England Journal of Medicine website.