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Councilmember Kepple cited the comment made by Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Dr. Amy Acton on April 4, 2020 that wearing masks, even homemade, can help wearers reduce the spread of their own germs to others by up to 80 percent. Can Councilmember Kepple please provide the source Dr. Acton referenced? I cannot find it on ODH's coronavirus website. I attempted multiple Internet searches for a study but could only find that 80%number in reference to surgical masks. Councilmember Kepple refers to data released by Willow Brook Christian Home to highlight the asymptomatic nature of the virus. The data shows asymptomatic residents tested positive for the virus. What it does not show is whether those asymptomatic residents of Willow Brook Christian Home were spreading the virus. Their swab tests were positive for the virus, but was any virus detected in their breath or coughs? The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates the wide use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not supported by evidence. A recommendation for the public to wear cloth face coverings is essentially assuming everyone is infected. The CDC advises the use of cloth face coverings to "help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others"and can be used as a "voluntary public health measure" (emphasis added). I feel strongly that whether or not to wear a cloth mask is an individual choice given the conflicting recommendations and inconclusive evidence about their effectiveness. If wearing a mask in public helps one feel safe or because they are in a high-risk category, I respect their decision and whole-heartedly support them. While I am not a business owner in Lakewood, I think each business is the best-equipped entity to determine whether or not their business will require their customers to wear masks. I think for a local government to take any legislative action regarding masks beyond what the state already recommends only serves to make it a more polarizing issue. I choose not to wear a mask because I do not fall into a high-risk category; it may increase m rho in ection; it seems counterintuitive to impede my flow of oxygen at a time when a disease that can result in silent hypoxia is circulating; and it seems pointless to do so this far into a pandemic, especially when recent studies in California, New York and elsewhere indicate far more people have been exposed than are reported. The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Ohio in early March, and data published daily by ODH shows dates of onset as early as February 12, 2020. Data published by both ODH and CCBH for influenza surveillance I think suggests COVID-19 was circulating in Ohio prior to that. In looking at the ODH Seasonal Influenza Activity Summary for MAIWR Week 17, the number and percent of positive influenza tests began to increase during MMWR Week 4, or the week ending January 25, 2020, reaching a peak of around 40% during MMWR Week 6 (see graph on page 4). People were clearly sick during this time with something what were the 60% of people with a negative influenza test sick with at the time? Ohio constitutional ED visits and Ohiofever and influenza-like illness (ILI) ED visits were also increased at this