MA Residents Required To Wear Masks When Not Social Distancing

Massachusetts residents will soon need to wear a face covering if they are public places where social distancing is not possible — including grocery and retail stores and public transportation. Gov. Charlie Baker told reporters Friday his executive order will go into effect May 6.

The order will not apply to children under the age of 2 or to those with medical exemptions. Anyone else not wearing will be subject to a $300 fine and could be denied entry into businesses.

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There will be guidelines for parents with children between ages 2 and 5.

Cloth coverings can range from homemade masks to scarves to bandanas. Baker said said people should not use medical-grade masks, instead leaving them for health care workers.

Baker had previously said the decision on whether to require face coverings should be left up to individual municipalities, several of which put it into practice. But on Friday, he told reporters he sees it as "common sense."

Wearing masks when being in populated public places is going to be a key measure in stemming the spread of the virus and reopening the state, Baker said.

As of Thursday afternoon there were 3,562 deaths related to COVID-19 and 62,205 confirmed cases. There have been 275,647 tests performed.