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  • 2020-05-13 (xsd:date)
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  • Did the US Surgeon General Recommend the Public Not Wear Masks? (en)
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  • U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams made comments in February and March 2020 recommending people not wear masks to help protect against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, and those comments began to recirculate online in April and May. As of April, though, Adams had changed his views in accordance with evolving recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and, to a lesser extent, from the World Health Organization (WHO). On May 7, one Facebook post from Ohio State Rep. Nino Vitale's Facebook account shared a Newsmax article that included Adams' past comments. That post was re-shared more than 700 times, along with the hashtags #EndMedicalDictatorship #FreedomAndLiberty: On Feb. 29, 2020, Adams tweeted: Then in an interview with Fox & Friends on March 2 he said: In the same interview, he added that people should clean their hands frequently and stay at home when sick, while maintaining that he was convinced more people would die from the flu than from the coronavirus around the world. In another interview with Fox & Friends, on March 31, he added that the data doesn't show that wearing masks in public will help people. He said: His recommendation corresponded with advice from the WHO in late March and early April, which stated that a person should only wear a mask if taking care of someone with COVID-19 (or a suspected case) or if exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, like coughing or sneezing. These masks are also only effective, according to the WHO, if combined with regular hand-washing and the avoidance of touching one's face. Adams also said that wearing masks can also give you a false sense of security. He added, You see many of these pictures with people out and about closer than 6 feet to each other, but still wearing a mask. This corresponded with advice given by both the CDC and the WHO that masks should be worn in addition to other measures, like social distancing. One reason Adams initially discouraged the general public from wearing masks: saving critical supplies like N95 respirators for healthcare providers to use. He acknowledged advice on the use of cotton masks could eventually change, but the data did not yet support that. He echoed the point he made in his earlier tweet to Fox News on March 31: In a White House press briefing on April 3, Adams changed his recommendation after he said he had received new guidance from the CDC. Echoing his earlier statements, he said: He followed this up with a clear recommendation that the general public should wear cloth masks outside of their homes in specific settings: On April 3, he also appeared in a CDC video How To Make Your Own Face Covering. We should note that the WHO's interim guidelines remain ambivalent on the benefits of non-medical masks. The agency is still researching the effectiveness of such masks, even though the CDC now recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public. It is safe to assume that these recommendations will evolve once more data is available. In short, Adams' changing statements have generally aligned with CDC guidelines. The more recent posts on social media omitted these changes, choosing instead to focus on statements he made a few months before. Adams again reaffirmed his view on masks via Twitter on May 13. Because his recommendation changed over time largely based on information from the CDC, we rate the truth of this claim Mixture, keeping in mind that Adams now recommends the general public use cloth masks along with maintaining other safety measures. (en)
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