written by Taylor Dixon
TheStatehouseFile.com  

INDIANAPOLIS — Marion County became one of four counties in Indiana to begin mandating that residents wear masks Thursday, moving to enforce practice experts argue limits the spread of the COVID-19 virus and one that some citizens oppose.

Last week, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and the Marion County Health Department issued an order requiring masks to be worn in indoor public places and outdoors when social distancing can’t be followed by any person over the age of two. Those who do not follow the guidelines could be fined.

“We want to be the city that doesn’t have to reverse and go back to shelter-in-place,” Marion County Health Department Commissioner Dr. Virginia Caine said Thursday.

Marion County joins three other counties in enforcing the practice, departing from a decision by state leaders to recommend Hoosiers wear masks in weekly press conferences while not requiring them.

St. Joseph County was the first to require masks starting on May 4. LaGrange and Elkhart County soon followed. Elkhart County was the latest behind Marion County to mandate masks on June 30 after an increase in COVID-19 cases.

“The mask doesn’t protect the wearer, it protects those around the wearer,” said Mark Fox, a deputy health officer for the St. Joseph County Health Department.

While Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has yet to require masks for the state, more than 20 states around the country have required people to wear them according to an article published by WebMD. But Holcomb has urged Hoosiers to wear masks and, with help from other state leaders, recently launched a social media campaign to support wearing a mask called #MaskupIndiana.

In a press briefing held Wednesday, Holcomb cited the Brickyard 400 and GMR Grand Prix that happened the weekend of July 4. He said that if the pit crew and drivers could wear a mask on the 129-degree track, that most Hoosiers, including himself, could too.

All the counties that have put a mask mandate in place have seen numbers go down, Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box said during Wednesday’s press conference.

Fox also said that compared to surrounding counties, St. Joseph County saw a significant drop off in the rate of cases in May and June after health officials began enforcing masks. And in Marion County, where leaders are offering masks for free to residents, more than 400,000 masks have been shared with residents as of Thursday when the mandate went into effect.

But not all Hoosiers support masks. Grassroots Conservatives, a conservative group based out of Bloomington, Indiana, has been pushing for the governor to reopen the state fully and believe that masks cause more harm than good in the fight against COVID-19.

“It’s a terrible idea because they are ineffective,” said Robert Hall, leader of Grassroots Conservatives and the Indiana Conservative Alliance. “They can actually make you sick.”

In an email newsletter, Grassroots Conservatives said wearing a mask will “give false health safety” and called face coverings “a comforting prop.”  The group backed this claim by writing that wearing a mask can lead to oxygen deficiency, carbon dioxide in your blood and potential brain damage.  Hall also said that masks are ineffective at keeping the virus out because the virus is smaller than the mesh of a cloth face mask, citing an article by former physics professor Denis G. Rancourt posted to the River Cities’ Reader in early June.

Hall said he questions CDC recommendations and believes they have “flip-flopped” on their stance since February and haven’t shown any scientific evidence to support their claims.

The CDC continues to urge everyone who is able — those over two and without previous breathing issues — to wear a mask, citing studies that have shown that wearing a mask reduces the spread of respiratory droplets that can infect others with COVID-19.

Although it is too soon to see the results of the mask order handed down by Hogsett, some Indianapolis residents, like Ashley Miller, 33, agree with the order.

Miller said that she wears a mask to keep herself, her friends and her family safe from COVID-19.

“I am glad to see a mandate come through. Wearing a mask benefits everyone and decreases the transmission of the disease,” Miller said, “We have to get comfortable with being a little uncomfortable first.”

FOOTNOTE: Taylor Dixon is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.