Last week, Robert Redfield, the current director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sat down to discuss the coronavirus pandemic’s ongoing effects. During that talk, he confirmed that the virus has to date infected an estimated 3.3 million Americans, and taken an estimated 136,000 lives.
Appearing during a YouTube sponsored live stream, the talk initiated the conversation on the need for universal masking. Redfield offered: “At this critical juncture when COVID-19 is resurging, broad adoption of cloth face coverings is a civic duty.”
He went on to say that: “a small sacrifice reliant on a highly effective low-tech solution that can help turn the tide favorably in both national and global efforts against COVID-19.”
Redfield also touched on his belief that if each member of the American public would commit to wearing a facial mask, and did so rigorously, that he thought that over the next six to eight weeks, there is the possibility that the pandemic could be brought under control.
The CDC has been recommending the wearing of facial masks, when social distancing is not possible, as far back as March of 2020. The CDC also claims now that the use of masks has shown to protect both the wearer as well as those around them even though they have waffled back and forth several times on this claim.
Even so, there has been massive widespread resistance to the wearing of masks, with some even going to far as to take up legal action—claiming that the mandate of wearing a mask is infringing on their basic rights. Redfield feels that the wearing of a mask is not one of a political issue—it is a public health and safety issue. When it all comes right down to it, it is a responsibility for us one and all.
President Trump appeared in public wearing a facial mask for the first time last week, and as a result, Redfield felt he set a very important example. He feels more and more of those in the public eye should follow suit if we are going to end this pandemic for good.
So the question remains, do the masks work to control the spread of the virus?