Reuters :
The Trump administration appeared to join local officials on Thursday in advising Americans to wear masks when venturing out during the still-exploding coronavirus pandemic, as the US death toll rose by 1,000 in a single day for the first time.
Speaking at a White House briefing, Deborah Birx, a member of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, said the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention would issue guidelines in the coming days on the use of face coverings. Birx however cautioned that Americans, who have been admonished to stay at home except for essential outings, should not develop a “false sense of security” that they are fully protected from the respiratory illness by wearing a mask.
Trump, answering questions from reporters at the same briefing, said only that “if people want to wear them, they can.” As of Thursday evening the US death toll from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by coronavirus,
stood at 5,821, with more than 241,000 positive cases across all 50 states. Global cases surpassed 1 million on Thursday with more than 52,000 deaths, according to a Reuters tally based on country by country data.
White House medical experts have forecast that between 100,000 to 240,000 people could be killed even if Americans follow the sweeping lock-down orders.
The Trump administration, CDC and public health officials have all wavered on the issue of face masks since the pandemic broke out, initially telling healthy people such measures were unnecessary or even counter-productive.
In New York City, the centre of the US outbreak, Mayor Bill de Blasio urged residents to wear face coverings, citing studies showing that the virus can be transmitted by infected people who are showing no symptoms.
“What that means is when you put on that face covering you’re protecting everyone else,” de Blasio said. The Democratic mayor suggested New Yorkers use scarves or other home-made masks because medical-grade protective gear was in short supply.
An emergency stockpile of medical equipment maintained by the US government has nearly run out of protective garb for doctors and nurses.
