An estimated 1.5 billion disposable face masks will end up in the oceans this year according to a Hong Kong-based conservation organization.
OceansAsia based its estimate on 52 billion masks being manufactured in 2020 to meet the demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Their report also says that a “conservative” calculation means at least 3 percent of them will be washed out to sea.
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Some are calling single-use face masks the new plastic bottle. Disposable masks are now becoming litter throughout the National Parks across the United States and visitors are littering the land and ancient caves.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,129 billion face masks have been used each month globally, according to some estimates.
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Target, CVS Health and Publix Super Markets on Thursday joined the growing list of national chains that will require customers to wear face masks regardless of where cities or states stand on the issue.
Target’s mandatory face mask policy will go into effect Aug. 1, and all CVS stores will begin requiring them on Monday. Publix Super Markets Inc., based in Lakeland, Florida, said that its rule will kick in on Tuesday at all 1,200 stores.
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Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order Wednesday prohibiting local municipalities from establishing mask mandates for people who go out in public.
His order prevents any municipality from enforcing a mask order that is more restrictive than the one at the state level, The Hill reported.
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Walmart will require all customers to wear face coverings inside its stores beginning July 20, the company announced Wednesday.
“As the number of confirmed cases has spiked in communities across the country recently, so have the number and types of face covering mandates being implemented,” the retailer said in a press release.
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Former Vice President Joe Biden floated the idea Thursday of issuing an executive order requiring all Americans to wear masks to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Wearing a mask can make the difference between life and death in some circumstances, Biden told a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee suggested that making masks a requirement could help reduce cases and deaths.
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The Centers for Disease Control is now recommending Americans wear cloth masks when leaving their homes to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, President Donald Trump said Friday.
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The shortage of N95 respirator masks in America today is the result of the Obama-Biden Administration’s failure to replenish the Strategic National Stockpile after the H1N1 swine flu pandemic depleted supplies, according to multiple reports.
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Fever, cough and shortness of breath are symptoms to watch for with the coronavirus, the CDC says.
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