Mask requirements are needed in healthcare settings to provide infection control and to ensure that disabled and other high-risk people have equal access to healthcare spaces. States should not have removed healthcare mask requirements, as they protect patients and healthcare workers and are in line with preventing hospital-acquired infections. In fact, a recent study found that COVID is acquired in healthcare facilities at a rate similar to bloodstream infections and UTIs, infections that we actively try to prevent. Other data have found that people who have hospital-acquired COVID-19 infections die at a higher rate. States should reinstate mask requirements in healthcare to ensure that individuals can more safely access healthcare and that healthcare facilities follow commonsense infection control for an airborne disease.

Through this letter campaign, you can ask state officials to reinstate mask requirements; you can also copy and paste language on the next page that you can send to your local healthcare facilities to ask them to put in place universal masking at their facility.

(A reminder when submitting comments that comments to officials are public record.)