To mask or not to mask?
For the past few months, public health officials have been unyielding in their stance that healthy people should not wear masks as a way to protect themselves from coronavirus.
But with new information about how the virus is spread — potentially through the air and by people with no symptoms — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday recommended that everyone wear nonmedical face coverings in public settings. President Trump said the guidelines were voluntary, leaving the decision about wearing masks up to individuals. Top health officials, including Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, warned that masks should not replace social distancing and hand washing.
While longtime advocates for mask wearing applaud the shift, they said it should also include a plan for providing masks to the public. For now, commercially made masks are virtually impossible to find. Many people have hoarded masks in recent months, and everyone agrees that any available supply of medical masks should be reserved for hospitals and emergency workers. That means if you want a mask, you probably have to make it yourself.
“We have a $3 trillion stimulus package and a mask costs very little — they should be free,” said Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University.
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