…ws even more restrictive than the pre-2020 status quo. North Carolina, for instance, passed a mask ban in June 2024 with a narrow exception allowing a “medical or surgical grade mask” for “preventing the spread of contagious disease,” replacing a broad pre-2020 exception that allowed “a mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.” When lawmakers propose a mask ban in response to hate crime, it’s assumed…