The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all people wear a protective mask when they go out in public, President Trump said.
“The CDC is advising the use of nonmedical, cloth face covering as an additional voluntary public health measure,” President Trump said during Friday’s White House press briefing.
He added that the guidance is that the public should reserve medical-grade masks for healthcare providers.
The guidance is voluntary, and Trump said he is “choosing not to do it.” The masks could be made from cloth or other supplies people have in their homes.
“I want to emphasize that the CDC is not recommending the use of medical-grade or surgical-grade masks. We want that to be used for our great medical people who are working so hard,” Trump said.
The administration’s endorsement of broad mask use is a reversal from earlier in the year, when it said that there was no evidence in favor of them. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams told people in February to stop buying masks so that healthcare providers and coronavirus patients would have enough. It later became clear, though, that not everyone shows symptoms of the virus immediately upon being infected, and the virus can spread to other people through cough droplets. Wearing masks in public spaces could protect people who come in contact with the asymptomatic individual.
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti are now encouraging people to wear protective masks every time they leave their homes.
