New York MTA Forbade Employees from Protecting Themselves by Wearing Masks

Randal O'TooleLast week, I pointed out a recent report that blamed much of the spread of COVID-19 in New York City on the subway system. Recently, I ’ve collected a series of memos suggesting that New York ’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is specifically culpable in this spread.During the2012 influenza epidemic, the MTA issued a policy directive stating that the agency would keep a six ‐​week supply of sanitizer wipes, sanitizer gel, and N95 respirators on hand for use by employees. The directive specifically stated that the masks would be available for bus drivers, station attendants, train conductors, and cleaners, among others.The first COVID-19 death in America wasreported by Washington state on February 29, 2020. Rather than make its supposed six ‐​week stockpile of masks available to its employees, MTA issued a memo on March 6forbidding employees from wearing masks, even if they had their own masks. The memo worried that, if bus operators and station attendants were allowed to wear masks, it could lead to “panicked purchasing of facemasks … thereby putting health care providers and their communities at greater risk.”Admittedly, as of March 6, there was still some debate among epidemiologists about whether healthy people needed to wear masks to protect themselves from the virus. But it is one thing to not mandate that masks be worn; it is quite another to forbid employees from wearing them. MTA ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs