Winston County leaders planning mask giveaway

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) –  Wearing a mask has been an easy and effective way to protect yourself and others from spreading the virus, as we’ve heard from our state health experts.

If you need a mask and don’t have one, this Friday would be your lucky day.

“This Friday between two to five, they will be setting up at the coliseum here in Louisville and give away those masks,” said Chris Young, the Louisville Director of Public Health.

The city of Louisville and Winston County joined forces to make sure they could give away as many masks as they could to people who needed them.

“Masks are good for your protection and your neighbors’ protection, so the more people that wear them, the more effective they are,” said Young.

Dustin Gentry, a physician at Winston Medical Center recommended for you to wear a mask if you were in a closed space or a room full of people.

“It’s important because I think some people aren’t wearing masks because they just don’t have one and so now I think that that excuse will just now fall away. It’s a great thing,” said Gentry.

Gentry also said that masks aren’t intended to protect the person wearing it, it is intended to help prevent the person from potentially spreading the virus to someone else.

“If you are wearing the mask over your nose and your mouth and you breathe out and you have the virus and don’t realize it, the particles will stay inside the mask and not spread out to your friends and family around you,” said Gentry.

“If I was in the public and I was out and about I would definitely wear a mask, there’s no need to wear one when you are driving by yourself in a car, there’s no need to wear one by yourself in a home, but if you are going out in the public I would wear a mask,” said Young.

Gentry said it was a no brainer to wear a mask when around a group of people.

“Its a gesture of kindness and there is some minimal protection to you so do that specifically when you are in a small group or are you are in crowds, and I guess in other circumstances you can have your choice,” said Gentry.

Through a church giveaway earlier this week, roughly 1/3 of the population in Winston County was able to get a mask.

About 6,600 masks were given away to over 100 churches within the county.