CDC director: U.S. could get COVID-19 pandemic under control within 2 months if everyone wore masks

People, some with masks and others without, walk along the Venice Boardwalk earlier this month.(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Jul 17, 2020 / 10:52 AM PDT

Updated: Jul 17, 2020 / 10:52 AM PDT

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America’s mainstream medical establishments have given their endorsement: Universal masking is essential for the nation to find its way out of a crippling COVID-19 pandemic and get schools back in session and the economy restarted.

“The data is clearly there, that masking works,” Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday in a webcast with the Journal of the American Medical Assn. “If we could get everybody to wear a mask right now, I really do think that in the next four, six, eight weeks, we could bring this epidemic under control.”

A CDC study released Tuesday said that by early May, a survey estimated that about 76% of American adults who left the house in the week prior had used a cloth face covering.

Another report by the CDC about two hairstylists at a salon in Missouri showcased masks’ remarkable effectiveness in preventing disease transmission.

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