By Joshua Huff, sports editor
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that people wear cloth or fabric face coverings when they venture out into public places to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, President Trump said on Friday.
Trump added that wearing the masks is voluntary and that he will not wear one.
“It’s really going to be a voluntary thing,” he said. “I’m not choosing to do it.”
No details have been released as to what type of covering is recommended. Trump did say that the CDC is not calling for Americans to wear medical-grade face masks.
“The cloth face coverings recommended are not surgical masks or N-95 respirators,” the CDC posted on its website. “Those are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance.”
Guidance on the CDC website states that the department recommends “wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”
This announcement follows weeks of health officials deterring the use of facial coverings for people who are healthy. Officials have maintained that masks should be worn only by medical professionals and patients suffering from the coronavirus. Recommendations from the CDC previously said that the public had no need to wear masks unless they came into contact with coronavirus patients or if they were sick.
Authorities now say that they have since learned more about the transmission of the disease and have adapted their guidelines.
“It has been confusing to the American people,” US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams admitted on Friday.
The new recommendations do not replace the government’s guidance on handwashing and practicing social distancing.