“We will probably ship a huge number of masks across the country soon, millions of them,” said Biden during a roundtable discussion with black frontline workers. He said the question of masks has become a political issue, which has cost “many lives”.
“We could have literally saved many lives if people had heard. We made wearing masks a political statement. If you were in favor of this thing, you would use it, if we were for someone else, you would not use it, when in fact , it’s just basic science, “said Biden.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request from CNN for additional details.
Studies have shown, and Dr. Anthony Fauci has pointed out many times, masks are the most effective way to protect you and others from the coronavirus infection that causes Covid-19 disease.
“Masks are a two-way street. Masks protect you and me,” preventing the spread of droplets and aerosols that can contain the virus, says the United States’ Center for Disease Control and Prevention in its mask guide.
Biden asked everyone to wear a mask when in public, and he made it mandatory on federal properties. Masks are required on public transport and at airports and transit stations.
Most states and some local governments have some type of masking mandate in place, and most retailers require customers to use them in their stores.
Earlier this month, White House chief of staff Ron Klain said the Biden government hopes to revive a Trump administration proposal to send masks directly to Americans.
“This was an idea that really came up last year in the Trump administration – public health agencies recommended it, President Trump vetoed it for some reason,” Klain told NBC’s Lester Holt on February 4. “We want to resume that track. I hope that in the next few days, or next week, we can announce some progress on that.”
Not all masks are created equal and it is not clear what kind of masks would be sent. N95 masks are the gold standard for masks because they block 95% of large and small particles using an electrostatic filter.
Cloth masks have the advantage of being washable and reusable – the more layers the better.
“If you’re wearing a cloth mask, it should be a multi-layer mask so that you have multiple layers of potential protection for a single mask,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta recently. from CNN.
The CDC recently updated its guidance to suggest using a cloth mask over a disposable mask, such as one of those blue surgical masks, as a way to add more protection. New CDC data shows that placing a cloth mask over a disposable medical mask can block 92.5% of the potentially infectious particles from escaping, creating a tighter fit and eliminating leaks.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently wore two masks, one on top of the other.
CNN’s Theresa Waldrop contributed to this report.