For months, major health care institutions, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), have stressed the importance of wearing face masks to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. And although many state and local officials across the U.S. have issued mandates for their constituencies, no federal orders have yet been issued on the use of face masks. But on January 20, in the first executive order issued by President Joe Biden, the newest resident of the White House, a new face mask policy will now require it in certain places.
“The first order I’m going to sign here is related to COVID,” Biden told reporters shortly after his inauguration, looking down on a stack of 15 executive orders. “It requires, as I have always said, where I have authority, that the masks be worn, and that there be social distance on federal property.” Read on to see what changes the new face mask policy will bring, and before you mask it, know that if you have this mask, get a new one, experts say.
According to CNN, Jeff Zients, an adviser to President Biden, who will be the government’s COVID-19 response coordinator, said Biden’s executive action on masks would require compliance with CDC guidelines on wearing masks and physical distance in federal buildings, on federal lands and by federal employees and contractors. “And while the order does not apply to all public areas, officials hope local lawmakers will follow their lead.
“The president will do governors, public health officials, mayors, business leaders and others to put in place masking, physical distance and other public measures to control COVID-19,” Zients said, adding: “it is not a political “For the health of our families and the economic recovery of our country.” And for the masks that will not help, look at The CDC Warns Against Using This 6 Face Masks.
The new federal mandate is part of the Biden administration’s “100-day masking challenge”, previously set out by the current president before taking office. The new initiative calls on all Americans to wear a mask for 100 days to limit the spread of the coronavirus while vaccines are being rolled out.
“It’s important that we, the president and the vice president, determine the pattern by wearing masks,” Biden said in an interview with CNN. Jake Tapper in December. “Only 100 days of masking. Not forever. One hundred days. And I think we’ll see a significant decrease … If that happens, with vaccinations and masking, to drop the numbers significantly.” And for more information on what may come next in the pandemic, find out why the new CDC director has issued this very dark COVID warning.
Despite the fact that face masks are politically deeply divisive, the scientific community agrees that the move is likely to help in the long run. This is especially true because winter weather has forced more people to enter, which increases the risk of spreading the virus.
“We have consistently high levels of community transfer across the country,” Chris Beyrer, MD, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, told NBCs Today. “With the rate of transmission of the community, with the contagion of this virus and with the weather we are dealing with (leading to) indoor activities, that real consistent masking can have a huge impact on reducing the transmission of the community. ” And subscribe to our daily newsletter for more COVID news delivered directly to your inbox.
Biden’s new policy will not put in place a national mask mandate, as it could be too high, he said. Anthony Fauci, MD, who has previously expressed concern that rules considered strict may make some people less willing to wear PPE.
During an interview with Kaiser Health News Editor-in-Chief E“The only reason I shy away from a strong recommendation in this regard is that things that come from the national level generally cause a bit of backlash from an already reluctant population who do not want to say what to do. , “he explains. “So you can have the counter effect of pushing people back even more.” And for more information on what you do not need to do to reduce your risk of getting coronavirus, go to The One Thing You Can Stop Doing to COVID, according to doctors.