Senate Republican: Trump ‘very open’ to idea of wider mask use in public

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) is pushing the public to adopt more extensive mask usage as the spread and death rate of the coronavirus increases throughout the U.S.

“We really want to get some traction behind this,” Toomey said in an interview, according to Reuters.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been reluctant to say whether wearing a mask is vital to limiting the spread of the virus; however, some doctors have suggested that it could help.

U.S. health officials on Tuesday said they were discussing whether to recommend that the general public wear masks.

President Trump said during a press briefing that he would urge ordinary people to use scarves to ensure that enough masks are available for health professionals handling the pandemic.

Toomey said he discussed with Trump the idea of suggesting that the general public wear masks, saying the president “is very open to this.” 

Trump said at a White House press briefing on Monday that he could see people wearing masks for a “short period of time” after the curve of spread of the virus slowed down.

“We’re not going to be wearing masks forever. … After we get back into gear, people could — I could see something like that happening for a period of time, but I would hope it would be a very limited period of time,” he said.