Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2020
Keywords
face shields, masks, COVID-19, coronavirus, disability, racial discrimination
Abstract
As the United States battles the later stages of the first wave of COVID-19 and faces the prospect of future waves, it is time to consider the practical utility of face shields as an alternative or complement to face masks in the policy guidance. Without face shields specifically noted in national guidance, many areas may be reluctant to allow their use as an alternative to cloth face masks, even with sufficient modification.
In this piece, we discuss the benefits of face shields as a substitute to face masks in the context of public health policy. We further discuss the implications and opportunity costs of creating policy guidance with only a small subset of scientific data, much of which is limited. We conclude by arguing that existing federal guidance should be expanded to include face shields as a policy option.
Recommended Citation
Wiemken, Timothy L. and Santos Rutschman, Ana and Gatter, Robert A., The Case for Face Shields: Improving the COVID-19 Public Health Policy Toolkit (September 2, 2020). Bill of Health (2020), Saint Louis University Legal Studies Research Paper Series 2020-26.
Included in
Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Clinical Epidemiology Commons, Disability Law Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, Immune System Diseases Commons, Immunology of Infectious Disease Commons, Immunotherapy Commons, Infectious Disease Commons, Influenza Virus Vaccines Commons, Respiratory Tract Diseases Commons, Virus Diseases Commons