The UC Riverside campus is working to provide its on-campus workers with face coverings following an April 4 order by Riverside County Public Health.

County Public Health officials have updated related guidelines several times in the past weeks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest order, in effect until April 30, holds that protection for the nose and mouth is warranted when venturing into public spaces. In the April 4 order, the county also ordered all gatherings outside of one's home to cease. 

The recommendation follows similar guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which on April 3 announced it is recommending cloth face coverings in public settings.

The campus has purchased all-cotton bandanas as face coverings for its on-site workers. It has issued guidance for the distribution and wearing of the washable bandanas. In lieu of a campus-issued face covering, employees may consider the creative use of materials available at home, including bandanas, fabric masks, and neck gaiters — also referred to as neck warmers.

Dr. Kenneth Han, chief medical officer at UCR’s Office of Student Health Services, said there are two kinds of masks people can use: one that keeps things in (i.e. face masks) and one that keeps things out (i.e. N95s).

If someone is sick, coughing, or even asymptomatic, covering their nose and mouth with a face mask will protect others from being infected.

The N95 respirator is meant to protect health care workers from being infected by patients they are treating. Officials are asking members of the public not to buy those and other surgical masks, reserving those for front-line health workers.