President Trump said on Friday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public. The coverings are meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The president emphasized that this recommendation is voluntary and that he did not think he would wear one. Across the nation however, many Americans have been following the recommendation, wearing homemade masks, bandanas and other coverings in public. They are also forming volunteer groups to sew masks for health care workers.
Days before the CDC revised its guidelines on face covering, scientific researcher Jeremy Howard put out the call to Americans to wear masks in a perspective piece for the Washington Post. Howard wrote: "It’s time to make masks a key part of our fight to contain, then defeat, this pandemic."
Joining Cincinnati Edition to discuss the recommendations on wearing face coverings and local volunteer efforts to make masks in our community are University of San Francisco Distinguished Research Scientist and #Masks4AllFounder Jeremy Howard; and Certified Nurse Midwife and Donate a Mask-CincinnatiCo-Founder Megan Byrd.
The Ohio Department of Health has guidelines for wearing cloth face coverings and links to information on how to make your own face covering at home.
Listen to Cincinnati Edition live at noon M-F. Audio for this segment will be uploaded after 4 p.m. ET.
Never miss an episode by subscribing to our podcast: