The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now recommending people wear cloth face masks in situations where “social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.”
The new guideline emphasizes that cloth masks are recommended not “surgical masks or N-95 respirators,” which should be reserved for healthcare workers and medical first responders.
The CDC recently shared a video featuring U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams showing viewers how to create their own masks at home, a project that takes less than a minute.
Social distancing is still key in slowing the spread of COVID-19 but the CDC explains that in areas where maintaining social distance is almost impossible—grocery stores, pharmacies, etc.—a cloth mask is recommended.
A number of individuals with coronavirus do not display any symptoms and the CDC hopes that the recommended use of a cloth face mask will deter the spread of the virus.
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