Face Time

It’s Time To Wear Masks To Slow The Spread

By Mel Franklin // Prince George’s County Council member At-Large

As the numbers of COVID-19 cases continue to rise, it is crucial that we as a community, move to the next step to help reduce the threat: Covering our faces and washing our hands more often, especially if one is an essential worker.

With Prince George’s County leading the State of Maryland in COVID-19 (aka “Coronavirus”) cases and deaths, with 1,476 cases and 35 deaths as of April 9, 2020, including the recent tragic death of local grocery worker Leilani Jordan, today Council Member (At-Large) Mel Franklin issued the following statement:

At Large County Council Member Mel Franklin

“The growing threat from the novel coronavirus is an existential threat to our way of life.  The front-line employees in our County and around our country who have been designated as “essential,” such as our grocery store workers, are at grave risk for being infected by this very deadly virus and should be fully protected as they valiantly provide our families with the food we need.  I am also mindful that we just lost an angel in the form of Leilani Jordan, a resident with differing abilities who continued working in order to take care of the seniors in her community.  I extend my condolences and prayers to her family.  I strongly urge every essential business, especially our grocery stores, to provide and require face coverings for their workers, with the requirement to wash their hands every 30 minutes and sanitizing resources for their hands and work station areas.  I also urge these businesses to enforce social distancing within their stores and require customers and visitors that enter their establishments to wear face coverings as well.”

“Furthermore, if stores do not comply with these common-sense protections for their workers and, thus, for our families, the State of Maryland and Prince George’s County should pursue mandatory measures to require enforcement.  We must work together like never before to contain and defeat the threat posed by this dangerous virus.  We are one county and we will rise from this crisis together.”

The Office of Council Member Franklin advises that face coverings should not be the n95 masks needed by health care workers and first responders but other masks, including the cloth face coverings recommended by the Centers for Disease Control.  More information from the CDC about face coverings can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html.