On Friday the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that citizens should wear “non-medical, cloth masks” to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Prior to the announcement, the CDC had recommended that only those with Covid-19 symptoms wear masks. The agency now recommends that those who aren’t feeling sick should still wear a mask, although it is voluntary.
On its website, the CDC says: “Cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, voluntary public health measure.” Staying at home is still being cited as the most effective way to protect yourself and those in your community, and the CDC recommends maintaining 6-foot social distancing as the primary method of reducing your chance of being infected.
This new CDC announcement comes after new research about how the virus is transmitted, and with cases still on the rise across the nation, Florida, and in Osceola County, there’s some evidence that people who are asymptomatic, those who aren’t showing any symptoms, can still be spreading the virus to others they come in contact with.
These new CDC recommendations are taking place when surgical face masks and N95 masks are already in short supply.
