Letter to the Hon. Robert Redfield, Dir. of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Suozzi, Chu applaud CDC guidance clarifying ineffectiveness of some masks in preventing spread of COVID-19

Letter

Dear Director Redfield:

We write to urge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update its recommendations on face coverings to explicitly discourage individuals from wearing masks with one-way valves. While the consensus among public health experts is that "valve masks" do not protect the people around those wearing them from contracting COVID-19, many Americans continue to utilize them because current guidance does not specifically discourage their use. While the CDC website recommends the use of cloth face coverings1, it does not specify that valve masks are ineffective. Because of this lack of clarity, many people are inadvertently putting those around them at risk.

Valve masks have long been used for protection by workers in a wide range of industries including health care, manufacturing, and agriculture. While valve masks serve an important purpose in preventing these workers from inhaling dangerous chemicals and contaminants on the job, public health experts agree that they are not helpful in preventing the spread of COVID-19. Wearing a mask without a valve helps prevent one from inadvertently spreading the virus when they talk, breathe, sneeze, or cough when interacting with others. However, according to the Mayo Clinic, "because the valve releases unfiltered air when the wearer breathes out, this type of mask doesn't prevent the wearer from spreading the virus."

Mask wearing is one of the most effective tools we have to fight COVID-19, but many Americans remain unaware that valve masks do not protect those around them. These individuals wear face coverings because they care about their communities and about slowing the spread of COVID-19 but are not receiving specific enough information from the federal government to make proper decisions. Therefore, they might have purchased a cloth face covering with a one-way valve or have started using personal protective equipment (PPE) leftover from a job like an N95 respirator with a valve. Furthermore, in the absence of federal guidance on valve masks, state and local governments with face covering mandates could be hesitant to deem valve masks non-compliant.

In order to help Americans, make sound decisions that will most effectively slow the spread of COVID-19, we strongly urge the CDC to update its face covering guidance to explicitly state that valve masks are ineffective for this purpose.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

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