The Trump administration is advising the public to stop buying medical masks amid the coronavirus outbreak.
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned on Saturday that widespread purchases by average citizens of the masks creates a burden on healthcare providers.
“Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!” a tweet from the surgeon general’s verified Twitter account said. “They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”
Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!
They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!
https://t.co/UxZRwxxKL9— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) February 29, 2020
As coronavirus fears have spiked in the United States, medical masks have begun to run out in some cities. The spread of the infection has caused the stock market to suffer its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 4% at its close on Friday, and the S&P 500 dropped more than 3%.
The warning from the surgeon general came on the same day Washington state confirmed the first death from the COVID-19 virus in the U.S.
President Trump said the person who died from the coronavirus was in their 50s and was a high-risk patient. Officials said the risk to the American public at large remains low.
“The average American does not need to go out and buy a mask,” Vice President Mike Pence, who was appointed to lead the administration’s response to coronavirus, told reporters at the White House.
Trump said 22 patients in the U.S. have coronavirus, including four who are “very ill.” This is in addition to the 44 cases from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
