Trump Advisers Unsure Whether to Ask Americans to Wear Masks

(Bloomberg) -- The White House is debating whether to advise Americans to wear masks in public to protect one another from coronavirus infection, as officials examine whether there’s a public health benefit and worry it could undermine social distancing.

President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force is nearing a consensus on the matter and could issue guidance within days, according to a person familiar with the matter.

But a second official said it’s unlikely masks will be recommended in the short-term because the task-force is still discussing the issue. The White House is awaiting a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Vice President Mike Pence said hasn’t been completed.

The task force “will bring those recommendations to the president at the appropriate time,” Pence told CNN on Wednesday.

Trump said Tuesday he believes wearing a mask could possibly help slow the virus’s spread. More than 197,000 Americans have contracted the virus and about 4,300 have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

“My feeling is, if people want to do it, there’s certainly no harm to it. I would say do it,” the president said during a White House news conference. But he suggested Americans use a scarf or similar garment, rather than medical masks in shortage at hospitals.

Asymptomatic Spread

Recommending the general public wear face coverings would mark a shift for the Trump administration, which previously said there is scant evidence masks are an effective way to prevent transmission of the virus. There has also been concern that an official recommendation would worsen shortages of medical-grade masks at hospitals.

But the White House now projects the virus will kill between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans, even with extended use of “social distancing” practices to slow its spread, lending greater urgency to efforts to curb transmission.

The White House’s plans on mask guidance were reported earlier by CNN.

Some public-health experts believe placing a fabric covering over the mouth and nose could prevent infected people who don’t show symptoms from spreading the virus to others. Anecdotal evidence has emerged that the disease can spread from aerosol emissions by asymptomatic people, not just by sick people coughing and sneezing.

Administration officials have previously expressed concern that wearing a mask may lull people into a false sense of security and undermine social distancing guidelines, which health professionals say are the most proven to way stop the virus.

But U.S. officials said they have seen new information that caused them to revisit their previous stance on masks.

“We know now there is a significant amount of asymptomatic spread and the task force has asked the CDC to look into whether or not we should change our recommendations to prevent people from spreading the novel coronavirus,” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Wednesday on NBC’s “Today” show.

Adams tweeted in late February that Americans should “STOP BUYING MASKS” because they are “not effective” in preventing the general public from catching the virus. He said on Wednesday that conclusion was “based on the best available evidence at the time.”

WHO, CDC Guidance

The World Health Organization and CDC have both said throughout the pandemic that that members of the general public should not wear masks unless they are sick.

Officials who now say masks could be effective have also urged Americans to learn how to properly wear them and not to touch their faces while doing so. They have also stressed that it is important for people to continue to observe social distancing guidelines for at least the next 30 days, even if they cover their faces.

“Masks are more to prevent people from spreading it than protecting you from getting it,” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Wednesday.

The administration is also cautioning Americans against rushing out to buy N95 respirators that are in short supply and in high demand by medical professionals. Some experts have said that makeshift cloth coverings, such as ones fashioned from T-shirts, could be a sufficient substitute for medical-grade masks for Americans who want to wear one.

Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, told CNN that masks would be a “subject of conversation” and that he would “lean toward” recommending them if didn’t take away from health care workers.

“Particularly now that we’re getting some inklings that there’s transmission of infection from an asymptomatic person who is not coughing, who is not sneezing, who just appears well. Well, then how do you think that’s happening?” Fauci said. “It very well could be aerosol. Maybe not aerosol, you know, that goes on for hours. But even the slight aerosol in which you’re talking to somebody. If that’s the case, we should at least look at the data and try to make a decision about that.”

Conway indicated the specifics of any new mask guidance are still being debated, saying rules are “under active consideration” but remain “hypothetical.”

“Please be respectful of the fact that we need to surge those supplies for our health-care workers and first responders,” she added.

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