WASHINGTON | Should Donald Trump wear a mask to set an example in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic? More and more voices – including Republicans – say that yes while, by the admission of his own government, time is cruel to find solutions against the coronavirus.
• Read also: All the developments of the pandemic
The Republican President has never appeared in public with a mask since the start of the pandemic, which killed more than 125,000 people in the United States, the most bereaved country in the world.
Above all, he made fun of his Democratic opponent in the presidential election of November 3, Joe Biden, who wears it, and he described the use of the mask as a “double-edged sword” from a health point of view in just when the south of the country is facing a disturbing outbreak of the disease.
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), which provides the tempo for the government’s response to the coronavirus, simply recommended its use. And not “required”, which should have been done for “a very long time,” regretted Sunday the Democratic President of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. All this to not “upset” the Republican billionaire, she said in an interview on ABC News.
“The president should wear a mask,” she said before adding: “Real men wear masks,” suggesting, as Joe Biden has already done, that Donald Trump’s refusal to cover his face was just a matter of misplaced virility.
Many observers and analysts also say that male supporters of the White House tenant in conservative regions of the country see the mask as a sign of weakness.
“It would help us”
The schism around the mask, which health agencies around the world are now touting as effective against the virus, is very political in the United States, as Donald Trump himself admitted this week.
But it should not be, regretted Sunday morning Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, in a rare compromise with the Democrats.
“It would help if, from time to time, the president wore one. It would help us get rid of this political debate that if you are for Trump, you are not wearing a mask and if you are against Trump, you are, “he said on CNN.
Questioned shortly after on this subject, the secretary for Health Alex Azar simply recalled that the president was a “unique” case, because he was tested “regularly”, thus taking up the argument of the New York billionaire. However, screening would allow him to know if he contracted COVID-19, but would not prevent contamination.
While rehashing the federal government’s message (respecting social distancing, washing your hands and wearing a mask), Alex Azar acknowledged that the situation was “very serious” and that “the window was closing to act and regain control of the health situation.
Nearly half of the states in the United States, particularly in the south and west, experienced a serious resurgence of COVID-19 during the month of June, and some, such as Florida or Texas, faced with a number of infections of unprecedented importance, had to pause their deconfinement process.
The governor of California, where, without being as dramatic as in Florida, the situation has worsened in recent weeks, announced Sunday the closure of bars in seven counties, including that of Los Angeles, the second largest city in the country.
“There is clearly something going on in the Sunbelt, especially among young Americans,” said Vice President Mike Pence, assuring that the government is “very closely” following what is going on in these states.
However, the situation continues to improve in the northeast, which was the most affected region two months ago.
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