Survey Findings Suggest Americans Will Continue Wearing Masks But Many Don’t Clean Their Masks

Hygiene-tech company, Livinguard, commissioned a survey finding that 3 in 4 Americans (77%) think wearing a facemask in public may become the “norm” for the foreseeable future. Additionally, more than half of Americans surveyed (52%) say they are likely to continue wearing a face mask well into the future… even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

Many Americans are taking special precautions during the pandemic such as entirely avoiding movie theaters (48%), concerts (47%), and places of worship (32%); however, they are missing the mark when it comes to basic mask hygiene. Livinguard’s survey found that 79% of Americans who prefer wearing re-usable cloth facemasks do not wash their facemask after each use. Nearly 7 in 10 Americans who prefer to wear single-use disposable masks (68%) admit to re-using their single-use masks.

In other words, more than half of the survey participants (55%) indicate they are not following proper mask sanitation guidelines — Gross! Markus Hutnak, Livinguard’s U.S. country manager, expresses concern over this finding. “This should be a notice to public health officials, business owners and people in general because wearing unsanitary masks increases the likelihood of spreading COVID-19 through cross contamination.” Hutnak continues, “This is a significant problem because independent research has shown detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can remain active on surgical masks for up to 7 days after initial exposure.”

Survey findings generated coverage in national and local publications. Coverage includes outlets such as Rolling Stone, Fast Company, and Interesting Engineering. PureWow, a digital lifestyle brand, featured Livinguard’s recent findings to predict the number one gift for 2020 — face masks.

Highlights:

• 46% of Americans feel their current face mask does not provide enough protection from COVID-19
• More than half of American consumers (53%) report feeling uncomfortable when others aren’t wearing masks around them in public
• 63% of parents of school age parents in the U.S. say they agree to some extent that access to a mask that effectively prevents exposure to the COVID-19 virus would make them less concerned about their children attending school in person