Tipsheet

Did a Texas Official Advise Wearing a Mask at Home? Here's What He Said

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  July 10, 2020 3:00 PM

By now, many states are requiring face masks to be worn in public, but what about at home? One Texas official is reminding the public that precautions need to also be taken in the home to limit the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus.

"We still need people to wear the mask out in public, we still need people to keep social distance and isolation,” Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd told a local San Antonio news station. “[T]he one thing I want to try to get across today is we need to do that when we’re in our homes also.”

His point was to address the many families who live in multigenerational homes. 

"As you know, I’m a life-long San Antonian, grew up there, worked there for many years and I know how many multi-generational families that we have,” he continued. “While we believe the community is doing a great job of following the rules when they are outside the home, we really need to be thinking about doing the same thing when we’re inside the home.”

The news anchor sought to clarify whether he was saying people should wear masks at home.

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Kidd did not respond directly at first, but cautioned that if social distancing can’t be done at home or if someone in the house has gone to a public place they could’ve likely exposed themselves to the virus, to think about what precautions they should take coming back in.

“I’m not necessarily saying you must wear a mask at all times when you’re in the house," he said. "I want you to think about where you’ve been, have you done the things to protect yourself and your family when you’re at home, and when you have extended family coming to stay with you are you doing all the things you can to protect yourself and them from this virus?”

Nevertheless, Twitter users did not take kindly to the suggestion.