President Trump suggested people use a scarf if they cannot find a face mask amid shortages.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Trump replied to a question about access to face masks and whether the public should be using them to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Trump said people should use a scarf to cover their faces if masks are not available.
“You can use a scarf. A lot of people have scarves, and you can use a scarf. A scarf would be very good. My feeling is, if people want to do it, there’s certainly no harm to it. I would say do it, but use a scarf if you want, you know, rather than going out and getting a mask or whatever. We are making millions and millions of masks, but we want them to go to the hospitals.”
He continued, “One of the things that Dr. Fauci told me today is we don’t want them competing. We don’t want everybody competing with the hospitals, who really need them. So, you can use scarfs. You can use something else over your face. It doesn’t have to be a mask, but it’s not a bad idea at least for a period of time.”
Trump noted that people may not want to use scarves in the long term but said he is optimistic that people will not feel the need to cover their faces as the pandemic declines.
