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Wear a Mask at Home if Vulnerable People Are Present, Birx Advises

Steve Baragona

   With the coronavirus spreading widely across the United States, the
   White House's pandemic task force coordinator is advising those living
   with vulnerable people to wear a mask at home, as well as in public
   places.

   "If you're in multigenerational households and there's an outbreak in
   your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a
   mask at home," DeborahBirxsaid Sunday on[1] CNN's"State of the Union."

   The United States is recording more than 60,000 new cases and more than
   1,000 deaths per day on average, according to the[2] COVID Tracking
   Project.

   Birxsaid the pandemic was entering a "new phase" in the United States.

   While outbreaks were focusedinlarge cities in the early months, "this
   epidemic right now is different and it's more widespread and it's both
   rural and urban," she said.

   President Donald TrumpcalledBirx'scomments "pathetic."Hetweetedshe
   "took the bait" after criticism fromHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who
   saidBirxhad previously presented too optimistic an outlook.

     So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx,
     going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we
     are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines &
     Therapeutics. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit
     us. Pathetic!
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [3]August 3, 2020

   The coronavirus can spread from infected people before they show
   symptoms, or from people who never show symptoms. One study estimates
   that more than half of all cases derive from[4]presymptomaticor
   asymptomatic people.

   The safest best,Birxsaid, is "assuming that you're positive if you have
   individuals in your households with comorbidities" such as diabetes or
   heart or lung disease.

References

   1. https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/02/politics/birx-coronavirus-new-phase-cnntv/index.html
   2. https://covidtracking.com/
   3. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1290282508303716352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   4. https://www.pnas.org/content/117/30/17513

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