U.S. President Donald Trump surprised the world by wearing a mask in public for the first time since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This is coming as the country broke own daily record by reporting more than 66,000 new cases of coronavirus.
Trump had previously refused to wear masks in public, although he had said he would if in a crowd and could not maintain physical distance from others.
He had come under sharp criticisms even from his fellow Republican Party members, who said his stance showed lack of example or leadership.
He finally did that during a visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre outside Washington where he met wounded soldiers and frontline healthcare workers.
However, Trump did not mention the coronavirus as a reason for wearing the mask.
“I’ve never been against masks but I do believe they have a time and a place,” he said earlier before leaving the White House.
Later, he said wearing a mask was the right thing to do “when you’re in a hospital … where you’re talking to a lot of soldiers and people that, in some cases, just got off the operating tables.
“I think it’s a great thing to wear a mask,” he declared.
Public health officials and institutions have been urging people to use masks to slow the spread of the virus.
As of Friday, the disease had claimed no fewer than 134,000 lives in the U.S., which has recorded no fewer than three million infections.
Meanwhile, the United States again broke its own record for new coronavirus cases in a single day, with over 66,600 fresh infections documented on Friday, according to latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. has broken its own record in three out of the last four days, according to the university’s tracker.
Florida, one of the states seeing the sharpest spike, reported more than 10,000 daily cases and 93 new deaths.
Disney resorts in the state are starting to reopen, beginning with the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom.
Governor Ron De Santis rejected the idea that he had pushed his state to reopen too quickly before the virus spread was under control.
This contradicts what Anthony Fauci, the government’s infectious disease expert has said.
Fauci warned that states, seeing surges of new cases, moved too swiftly in recent weeks and did not follow guidelines.
During a press conference on Saturday, De Santis said he would not be imposing a mandatory mask requirement state-wide.
Disney has enforced one at its locations, as part of its reopening, which comes about four months after the pandemic forced the parks to shut down.
Georgia, also a hotspot, shattered its own record, with more than 4,000 new cases.
However, a fight is brewing between the mayor of the state’s main city, Atlanta, a Democrat, who is trying to roll back re-openings, and the governor, a Republican, who is refusing.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms warned of “alarming” spike in new cases.
The White House has downplayed the severity of the new outbreaks across multiple states, insisting, despite the evidence that the rising caseloads are only due to expanded testing and focusing on death rates.
While mortality figures have been in sharp decline, they are starting to tick back up, with places like Texas and Florida seeing sustained high levels, far surpassing their peaks earlier in the pandemic.
Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, has been urging citizens to wear masks, despite resistance and warned he may have to impose new rules if cases and hospitalisations continue to climb.
President Donald Trump, who generally does not wear a mask, is due to visit a military hospital and has said he likely would wear a face covering while spending time with injured soldiers. (dpa/NAN)
