DC's mask mandate being ignored by some

Mask mandate in DC being ignored by some

Two days after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an order requiring people to wear masks outside with few exceptions, take a look around the District and you’ll likely spot quite a few people who aren’t.

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - Two days after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an order requiring people to wear masks outside with few exceptions, take a look around the District and you’ll likely spot quite a few people who aren’t.

"Were you wearing your mask when you agreed to do this interview?” Kelley Rogers was asked at the corner of 14th St and U St NW Friday afternoon. “No,” she laughed, before adding, “because I couldn’t breathe. I wanted some fresh air.”

Rogers then said she actually really like the mayor’s order, she just didn’t know about it. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know,” she repeated.

And Rogers is far from alone. Leandrew Tillery, who was wearing a mask, said he didn’t know about the order either.

“No, but this is an everyday thing for me though,” Tillery told FOX 5 DC.

It’s part of the reason why, so far, the city hasn’t actually enforced the order at all.

“We want to educate people, we want to really push for compliance, and then if necessary, use enforcement,” explained Acting Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development John Falcicchio. He added that city leaders want people to wear masks for everyone’s safety, not because they’re looking to levy what could be up to a $1,000 fine. “The safest thing for everyone is for everyone to wear a mask, and so that’s why we’re going to keep emphasizing it.”

Falcicchio also said that as far as he can tell, the vast majority of D.C. residents have been following the new order.

Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather