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Mask Policy: 'So many different policies and rules'

TMJ4's First Vote students talk about face masks.
Posted at 6:30 PM, Jul 15, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-23 14:29:02-04

Milwaukee's mask mandate goes into effect Thursday but there's still no statewide or nationwide facial covering policy.

If you're over three-years-old, you have to wear a mask when around people in public. Businesses that don't enforce the policy could face fines up to $500 and could have their license taken away.

There's no shortage of opinions over who and when people should wear a mask.

Charles Benson talked with TMJ4's First Vote college-bound students who will be voting for the first time in the November election, about the politics and policy debate about masks.

Benson: Do you think it's become a political statement for those who wear the mask or don't wear the mask?

Sherlean Roberts: Yes.

Sherlean Roberts knows first hand the impact of COVID 19. Her test results came back after our interview last week. She tested positive for the virus but is asymptomatic.

She believes there should be a nationwide mask policy.

"Everybody has so many different policies and rules to follow but we all need to be on one strict schedule one strict set of guidelines," said Roberts, who will attend Marquette University in the fall. "So we know what's going on."

Alan Angulo went to Marquette High now he's staying busy this summer taking college classes online before he starts at Marquette University in a few weeks.

He supports wearing masks.

"That's a sacrifice that maybe some of us have to make," said Angulo. "I'm sure there's, there are cases where people do really like have to like go outside without wearing a mask but I think in most situations people are just making this political in a way that just doesn't seem plausible."

Among the biggest surge in COVID cases in Wisconsin has been with 20- 29-year-olds.

18-year old Riley McAdams, who is also headed to Marquette in the fall, says she's not taking any chances with her friends.

"We don't go out very much at all," said McAdams. "And if we do, we try to limit contact completely and always wearing masks to be really, really cautious about it."

Hunter Acton is looking forward to playing college football at Roosevelt University in Illinois this year.

He believes in a common-sense approach when it comes to wearing a mask.

"I am very much behind the phrase that all of us college athletes and professional athletes are using, wear your mask so I can wear my helmet," said Acton.

Major retailers are either requiring or encouraging mask use. Requirements may be different depending on where you live.

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