Backtrack: Trump administration now says public should wear masks

By Joseph Lawler

Published April 3, 2020 4:00am ET

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Backtrack: Trump administration now says public should wear masks — A woman wearing face mask waits to cross a nearly empty road due to residents taking the advice of staying at home to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, with Moscow City skyscrapers in the background, in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 2, 2020. Online shopping for food and other supplies has boomed in Moscow after the authorities put most residents on lockdown. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. | (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

President Trump’s administration is set to tell people to wear masks against the coronavirus, but it remained unclear Thursday if the advice would be for everyone nationwide.

The guidance, expected to apply to the general public in hot spots, would reverse previous advice. Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweeted in February, “Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!” He claimed they weren’t effective at protecting the public.

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COVID-19 Nancy Pelosi Steven Mnuchin Surgeon General Unemployment