It’s a year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic and we have all witnessed the incredible effects mask wearing has on slowing the transmission of the coronavirus.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consistently shares data relating to the efficacy of cloth face coverings to demonstrate how masking up can protect people around the US. Even with the introduction of lifesaving vaccines in the US, public health experts underscore how states with mask mandates report decreases in daily COVID-19 cases and death rates.

For Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities, masking up is one of the simplest and most important ways they can protect themselves and others.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on communities of color, adding to the widespread racial inequality that has plagued the nation for years. Part of this is due to longstanding distrust in the government and health care system, arising from both covert and overt acts of racism. Another reason has to do with limited outreach in communities of color, which have fewer vaccination sites and resources available to protect against the coronavirus.

To protect themselves and their communities from contracting COVID-19, people of color are continuing to mask up even while some states have chosen to end their mask mandates. In other states, local governments are choosing to reinstate mask policies, regardless of vaccination status.

Read the full article about BIPOC health by Jaxx Artz at Global Citizen.