The first lady has tweeted out that Americans should wear masks --but hasn't yet been seen wearing one either, though she also hasn't held a large-scale public event in the last few weeks. Per CDC guidelines, masks aren't necessary at home.
In a video on the CDC’s website posted Friday, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said that cloth face coverings can be made from an old scarf, bandanas and hand towels, and showed how to fashion a face covering from a t-shirt and two rubber bands. Adams has also urged people to wash their hands before putting on a mask, to avoid buying medical grade or N95 masks so that they can go straight to health professionals on the front line and to continue social distancing even if wearing a mask.
A few days later, Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced that the anyone on Department of Defense property, installations or facilities must wear a cloth face covering when they cannot maintain 6 feet of social distance in public area or work centers.
\"We want to take every measure to protect our troops … (while) making sure we can conduct our national security missions. And to do that we can't always do the 6 feet distancing whether you're an attack submarine, a bomber, in a tank so we have to take other measures,\" Esper said on ABC News' \"This Week\" on Sunday.
Also on Sunday, 2020 Democratic contender and former Vice President Joe Biden committed to wearing a mask the next time he was in public, setting himself up as the visual contradiction to the president.
\"Yes. Look, I think it's important to follow the science, listen to the experts do what they tell you,\" Biden said on ABC News' \"This Week.\"
\"He may not like how he looks in a mask but the truth of the matter is that -- follow the science. That's what they're telling us. So if I go out in public, and I have not gone to commercial places of late, I haven't gone to my local church ... but my generic point is that you should follow the science,\" Biden said.
What to know about coronavirus:
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