Photo: AAFA
MANUFACTURING
AAFA Urges National Policy on Face Masks
The American Apparel & Footwear Association trade group sent President Donald Trump and other governmental groups a plea on July 10 to develop a national policy on face-mask usage standards for enclosed public spaces.
Stephen Lamar, AAFA’s president and chief executive officer, said a national policy would help stop the spread of COVID-19 and safely restart the economy.
“Unfortunately, the lack of a national face-mask usage standard, combined with conflicting messaging and unevenly enforced legal requirements regarding face masks, make those front lines tenuous and stymies our collective efforts to stop COVID-19,” Lamar wrote.
A version of the letter also was delivered to the National Governors Association, National Association of Counties and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The United States and world economies have taken an unprecedented stumble because of the pandemic. One of the only bright spots in the economic picture are sales of masks and face coverings.
San Francisco-headquartered market research company Grand View Research released a report in April, which noted that the global market for disposable face masks exceeded a value of $74.9 billion in the first quarter of 2020. For decades, people in Asian countries have worn face masks when walking in public. It’s become popular outside of Asia since the pandemic started earlier this year.
