Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association Launches Mask Giveaway Campaign to Promote Public Health and Encourage People to Wear Facial Coverings During COVID-19

July 20, 2020

Social Media-Based Promotional Effort Offers People a Chance to Win a Free Face Mask Printed with the Slogan “I (Heart) Virginia Hospitals”

RICHMOND, VA – The COVID-19 pandemic remains a global public health threat whose harmful effects have been felt across the nation and here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. One way to help limit community spread of the virus is for people to take basic safety precautions to protect their personal health and the people around them.

To help promote behaviors including mask wearing in public, social distancing, and regular hand washing, the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) has launched a digital campaign to encourage widespread use of face coverings by giving away a limited number of blue cloth masks bearing the slogan “I (Heart) Virginia Hospitals.”

On its social media channels, VHHA has posted COVID-19 related videos and content that encourages platform users to share the videos to their timelines and engage with the content to become eligible to receive a free face mask. One video promotes the importance of public mask wearing, social distancing, and regular hand washing. Another video is a recent public service announcement (PSA) airing on television stations across the Commonwealth encouraging Virginians to seek out needed medical care that may have been postponed or delayed earlier this year due to the pandemic.

“This spring, Virginians joined together in adopting new behaviors to help keep each other safe and flatten the coronavirus curve,” said VHHA President and CEO Sean T. Connaughton. “While those efforts have worked, COVID-19 remains a serious public health concern and new infection cases and hospitalization numbers have risen in recent weeks. So it is important for people to remain vigilant about common sense safety precautions such as wearing face coverings in public. To help spread that message, we have initiated this limited-time face mask giveaway promotion.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cloth face coverings are recommended to help protect people from exposure to respiratory droplets emitted when people cough, sneeze, or talk. Emerging clinical evidence indicates cloth coverings such as face masks can reduce the spread of these droplets when worn over the face and nose. The CDC recommends that all people two and older wear a cloth face covering in public settings, and when around people who don’t live in their household. In addition to the CDC, many businesses have implemented in-store face covering policies, and elected leaders from President Donald Trump to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam have publicly endorsed the concept of wearing a mask to limit the spread of COVID-19.

About VHHA: The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association is an alliance of 110 hospitals and 26 health delivery systems that develops and advocates for sound health care policy in the Commonwealth. Its mission is to achieve excellence in both health care and health. Its vision is through the power of collaboration to be recognized as a driving force behind making Virginia the healthiest state in the nation. Connect with VHHA through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Julian Walker
Vice President of Communications
(804) 297-3193 office
(804) 304-7402 mobile
jtwalker@vhha.com

Photos of VHHA team members wearing “I (Heart) Virginia Hospitals” masks (click to enlarge).