Growing numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths are troubling; facemasks can slow the trend

100 of the nation’s top health care systems, representing thousands of hospitals in communities across the U.S., have come together with an urgent plea for all Americans – mask up, because wearing a facemask is our best chance at slowing the surging COVID-19 pandemic now.

More than 11.5 million Americans have tested positive for the virus – including an additional one million in just the past week – leading to nearly 250,000 deaths.

The current trends are daunting and frightening. If the nation stays on its current course, hospital leaders are increasingly concerned that more healthcare facilities will be overwhelmed as shortages of healthy caregivers make it difficult to handle a rapidly increasing number of patients. Unfortunately, this is already happening in parts of our country.

The next several months will be critical. Though there has been positive news about vaccine development, no one knows when those vaccines will be ready for widespread use. In the meantime, everyone must remain vigilant, take precautions and follow public health orders.

The country has reached a tipping point. The power to do what is right is now in the hands of everyone everywhere.

Beginning today, a public service message will run in The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. Additionally, hospitals and health systems across the country will continue to unite to share these messages regionally.

The message reads:

“As the top nationally-ranked hospitals, we know it’s tough that we all need to do our part and keep wearing masks. But, here’s what we also know: The science has not changed. Masks slow the spread of COVID-19. So, please join us as we all embrace this simple ask: Wear. Care. Share with #MaskUp. Together, wearing is caring. And together, we are saving lives.”

In an effort to reach a broader audience, the public service effort will also include messages on digital platforms, social media, online information, links to vital health resources and more.

Combining resources demonstrates that these health organizations are working together, will accomplish this today and will get through this together.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points to recent studies that have shown facemasks successfully limit spread of the COVID-19 virus. Wearing facemasks protect in key ways: by protecting the wearer against inhalation of harmful pathogens and particulates and by preventing exposure of those around the wearer.

In addition to masking, the CDC suggests that everyone minimize the number of non-household contacts, maintain a physical distance of at least six feet, and limit the amount of time around others, especially while indoors and in poorly ventilated areas. For further information about masking guidelines – how to choose a mask, how to properly wear a mask – visit the CDC website.

Media Contacts:

• Joe Dangor, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 
  newsbureau@mayo.edu
• Rhoda Weiss, 310.945.6730, rhoda@rhodaweiss.com
• Angie Kiska, 216.312.9170, kiskaa@ccf.org

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About us: www.everymaskup.com  is a collaboration of 100 leading health systems representing thousands of hospitals across the U.S. joining together to create messages for the betterment of communities they serve. The impetus for this, and other public service campaigns to follow, came from a group of health care marketing and communications executives meeting for a decade and reengaged weekly since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The following hospitals and health systems are helping to spread this message across the country.

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AdventHealth Adventist Health Allegheny Health Network Atrium Health Avera Health Banner Health Baptist Health Northeast Florida Baylor Scott & White Health Baystate Health BJC HealthCare Bon Secours Mercy Health Boston Children's Hospital Cedars-Sinai Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Children's Hospital of Orange County Children's National Hospital ChristianaCare Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center City of Hope Cleveland Clinic CommonSpirit Health Community Health Systems Cooper University Health Care Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health Duke Health Emory Healthcare Geisinger Hackensack Meridian Health HCA Healthcare Inspira Health Intermountain Healthcare Jefferson Health Johns Hopkins Medicine Kaiser Permanente Keck Medicine of USC LifePoint Health Mass General Brigham Mayo Clinic MedStar Health Memorial Hermann Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center MemorialCare (Southern California) Mercy Michigan Medicine Mount Sinai Health System National Jewish Health Nationwide Children's Hospital Nebraska Medicine

Nemours Children's Health System NewYork-Presbyterian Northwell Health Northwestern Medicine Norton Healthcare Ochsner Health OhioHealth Oregon Health & Science University OSF HealthCare OU Health PeaceHealth Penn Medicine Penn State Health Providence Renown Health Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Rush University System for Health RWJ Barnabas Health Saint Luke's Health System (Kansas City, MO) SCL Health Scripps Health Sharp HealthCare Southwestern Health Resources SSM Health St. Elizabeth Healthcare St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital St. Luke's Hospital (St. Louis) Stanford Health Care Sutter Health Temple Health Texas Health Resources The Christ Hospital Health Network The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ThedaCare TriHealth (Cincinnati) Trinity Health UC Davis Health UCHealth UC Health CINCINNATI UC San Diego Health UChicago Medicine UCI Health UCLA Health UCSF Health UNC Health University of California Health University Hospitals (Cleveland) University of Iowa Health Care Virtua Health

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