California Gov. Newsom's Office Warns Diners To Wear Masks 'In Between Bites'
One of the latest mask mania mandates from the office of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom is proving a hard pill for many to swallow.
Last week, Newsom’s office chided anyone eating in public to wear a mask in between bites.
“Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend?” Newsom’s office tweeted Friday. “Don’t forget to keep your mask on in between bites. Do your part to keep those around you healthy.”
The image that accompanied the text included the words: “Minimize the number of times you take your mask off.”
Going out to eat with members of your household this weekend? Don’t forget to keep your mask on in between bites.
Do your part to keep those around you healthy. #SlowtheSpreadhttps://t.co/snYe5v55Rw pic.twitter.com/Y4fcDO5Zke
— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) October 3, 2020
The tweet had critics aplenty.
“Did you get all that? Spot the contradiction?” Nick Kangadis wrote for the Media Research Center.
“In one sentence, Newsom’s office want[s] you to be masked ‘in between bites’ of your food should you go out to dinner with your family. Then in the graphic, just two sentences later, they tell people to ‘Minimize the number of times you take your mask off,'” he wrote.
[firefly_poll]
“Now, I’m no mathematician, but wouldn’t you be taking off your mask a ton if you had to put it back on ‘in between bites?’
“Of course these edicts don’t make sense, but then again, it is California. Just saying.”
The concept was fodder for Twitter to chew on:
This is exactly why sane people don’t take you seriously. Who thought of ”minimize touching your mask” and “Off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on,
off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on,
off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on in the same graphic? Science.— X-Sports Fan (@RawlinsonGerry) October 5, 2020
Make sure to pull your mask back up after each bite? In fact, why not just leave it on while you drink your beverage as well – certainly our beverages can permeate the mask material! Can we PLEASE get this idiot @GavinNewsom out of office!
— Jason (@jkozlow3) October 3, 2020
Here’s the saddest thing about this tweet:
Imagine, PEOPLE WILL ACTUALLY BE DOING THIS NOW. They will see this tweet and follow it!
It’s far worse than I thought.
— Robert Bitto (@RobertBitto) October 3, 2020
Should we wash our hands after touching our mask each time we remove it between bites? What if I’m eating chips and salsa and I go for a double dip? Is that technically two bites since it’s the same chip?
— SolventButcher (@SolventButcher) October 6, 2020
CDC guidance… touch the mask as little as possible and wash hands as soon as you remove it… so each bite of food, you have to get up and wash hands, but that means putting the mask back on to go wash hands… let’s stick with not touching our masks while food is at the table! pic.twitter.com/AKQglJwKVF
— Martin Dennison (@MartinLDennison) October 3, 2020
Durland Fish, PhD, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, has said that putting a mask on and taking it off while eating could make things worse.
He told NBC’s “Today” that the risk of spreading the virus from the mask to the hands touching the mask increases with every touch.
Jade Flinn, the nurse educator for the Biocontainment Unit at Johns Hopkins Medicine, offered a solution that seems like it could be just as much work as putting a mask on and taking it off between bites.
“Store [your mask] in a clean receptacle,” Flinn said.
“You want to keep it in a well-ventilated bag, usually a paper bag, so there’s not really a chance that it would grow any mold or fungus.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
