As confirmed COVID-19 cases in the US approach 275,000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new nationwide guidelines on Friday that urged Americans to wear a "non-medical cloth" face mask such as a scarf, t-shirt or bandana.
The new recommendation follows weeks of the CDC insisting that face masks were not necessary for those who are not sick.
"We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms," Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams explained during the Friday task force briefing. Because of this, officials believe a "non-medical cloth" face mask is a suitable precautionary measure to avoid unknowingly transmitting the disease.
Of the 7,077 deaths reported in the US, 1,584 of those belong to New York City, New York, according to the Johns Hopkins dashboard.