Montgomery County, business partners launch #MaskUpMoCo campaign

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Montgomery County Government, partnering with the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation, Visit Montgomery and the local business community, launched the multi-platform outreach campaign #MaskUpMoCo.

The campaign is designed to educate county residents and visitors about the importance of wearing a mask in public and outdoors when unable to maintain physical distance. #MaskUpMoCo is a partnership between the county government and the business community and comes from a shared recognition that in order to continue reopening the County safely, businesses and government must work together to promote public health best practices. The campaign that will be shared in seven languages will include social media messaging, Ride On bus ads, public service announcements, lawn signs and print materials for businesses, including window signs, to display.

The campaign is the latest effort to urge residents to do their part to help slow the spread of COVID-19 by properly wearing a mask whenever they cannot maintain 6 feet of distance. To minimize risk of exposure to COVID-19, everyone older than 2 should wear a face covering that covers their chin, mouth and nose.

In late August, a county liquor store employee was assaulted by a customer whose friend had been denied entry to the Potomac store because they were not wearing a mask.  The customer was later arrested and charged with assault.

In a social media survey completed by Montgomery County Government in late July and conducted in English and Spanish, an overwhelming majority (91 percent) of the 2,700 respondents reported wearing a mask is “very important to slow down the spread of COVID-19.” More than three-quarters (78 percent) of respondents also reported seeing many people wearing masks improperly, such as exposing the nose.