Free mask giveaway planned in Richland on Friday

Free face coverings will be passed out at a drive-thru event in Richland on Friday, July 24.

The giveaway is 8 to 11 a.m. at the Richland city shops, 2700 Duportail St. Participants should remain in their cars.

Benton County Emergency Management gave the city 1,500 reusable masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Local and state orders require most people to wear masks in public and require businesses to refuse service to people who are not wearing masks.

People with COVID-19 are contagious before they develop symptoms and some people with the disease develop no symptoms but may still spread the coronavirus through airborne droplets when the talk or cough or just by breathing, according to the Washington state Department of Health.