In the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, top US health officials said we should not be wearing facemasks. Later, they said we should. And now, many say wearing masks essential to protect the nation’s economy, reopen schools and businesses, and save lives.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said, “If we all wore face coverings for the next four, six, eight, 12 weeks across the nation, this virus transmission would stop.”
However, President Donald Trump said disagrees with a federal mask mandate, referring to outdated statements made a few months ago.
In an interview with Fox New’ Chris Wallace, Trump said, “Dr. Fauci said don’t wear a mask. Our surgeon general, terrific guy, said don’t wear a mask. Everybody was saying don’t wear a mask.”
“All of a sudden, everybody’s got to wear a mask and as you know, masks cause problems too,” he added. “With that being said, I’m a believer in masks. I think masks are good.”
In February and March, Dr. Anthony Fauci and US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams advised people not to wear facemasks. But, for the past several months, they have agreed that wearing a mask is essential to curb the ongoing pandemic.
The CDC said, “Cloth face coverings are meant to protect other people in case the wearer is unknowingly infected but does not have symptoms. Everyone should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public, for example to the grocery store or to pick up other necessities.”
Some experts have said that the pandemic could prevent more than 33,000 deaths if 95% of Americans start wearing a mask.
In the early stages of the pandemic, researchers did not know how easily the coronavirus spreads between people without actually having symptoms so they advised against wearing a mask. Also, there were shortages of N95 respirators and facemasks among frontline health workers.
In March, the CDC and the WHO said masks should not be worn by healthy people and instead should be reserved for the ones who are sick or who are taking care of sick people.
Many experts now say that wearing a mask is imperative now.
Dr. Christopher Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, said, “People need to know that wearing masks can reduce transmission of the virus by as much as 50%, and those who refuse are putting their lives, their families, their friends, and their communities at risk.”
Dr. Fauci, NIAID Director, has been asking the public to wear masks, especially when states have started reopening and more people are out in public. He said, “Plan A: Don’t go in a crowd. Plan B: If you do, make sure you wear a mask.”
Dr. Murray said, “It’s an incredibly simple, cheap, and now turning out to be effective intervention — both for individuals (and) for communities. There’s no reason that every state shouldn’t do what other states are starting to do, which is mandate mask use.”
Dr. Murray agreed to the fact that the fastest way to help get rid of COVID-19 and to prevent a resurgence is to wear a facemask.
Apart from wearing a mask, it is important to practice social distancing whenever possible and wash your hands frequently. Dr. Deborah Birx, a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said, “Don’t get a false sense of security that that mask is protecting you exclusively from getting infected. There are other ways that you can get infected.”
