Uh oh, it looks like we might be going to the next phase of this unrelenting coronavirus crisis.
“Under discussion,” is what Dr. Anthony Fauci says is the possibility of asking the general public to wear masks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“When we get in a situation where we have enough masks, I believe there will be some very serious consideration about more broadening this recommendation of using masks,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN on Tuesday.
The longtime public health administrator said the topic will come up at Today’s White House coronavirus task force briefing, which is set for 5pm Eastern.
“We’re not there yet, but I think we’re close to coming to some determination,” Fauci said, noting that “you don’t want to take masks away from health providers.”
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The subject was broached at Monday briefing when President Trump said that he hadn’t yet discussed the topic with his experts but that it was something they would look into. He said if the recommendation did come, he hoped it would be for a “very limited period of time.”
“We are not going to be wearing masks forever, but it could be for a short period of time after we get back into gear,” Trump said. “I could see something like that happening for a period of time.”
Tuesday morning on “Fox & Friends” Surgeon General Jerome Adams said that the data doesn’t show that masks are necessary for the public, citing statements from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It’s important to understand that we are looking at the data every single day and we make the best recommendations to the American people we can, based on what we know,” Adams said.
Adams added that a mask could give someone a “false sense of security.”
On top of that, the World health organization/WHO, on Monday also stated that it believes only sick people and those taking care of sick people need masks.
“There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit,” said Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergency program. “In fact, there’s some evidence to suggest the opposite in the misuse of wearing a mask properly or fitting it properly.”
Last week, the organization said that the world is facing a massive shortage of protective equipment, like masks.
“The chronic global shortage of personal protective equipment is now one of the most urgent threats to our collective ability to save lives,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday.
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