Coronavirus: Surgeon General Jerome Adams ‘begs’ Americans to wear masks

One of the US government’s top health experts has pleaded for Americans to follow a basic – but bafflingly divisive – piece of health advice.

One of the US government’s top health experts has pleaded with Americans to follow the official advice and wear face masks to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The United States has been in the midst of a bizarre culture war for months, with some Americans arguing that mandatory mask-wearing amounts to an outrageous breach of their personal freedom.

At the moment, there is no national rule that masks must be warn – the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) merely “recommends” that people wear face coverings in public settings, or whenever social distancing is hard to maintain.

But some state and local governments have made masks compulsory, sparking an angry backlash from a loud minority of their constituents.

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Yesterday, Fox News spoke to US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who serves as the federal government’s top spokesman on matters of public health. The Department of Health and Human Services describes him as “the nation’s doctor”.

Dr Adams does not favour mandating masks at a national level, but he made it clear he wants Americans to comply with the CDC’s recommendation anyway.

“I’m pleading with your viewers. I’m begging you. Please understand that we are not trying to take away your freedoms when we say wear a face covering,” Dr Adams said.

“We’re not trying to take away your ability to go out when we say, ‘Keep restaurant capacity under 50 per cent.’

“We’re saying if we do these things, we can actually open and stay open.”

Dr Adams readily acknowledged that he and other health experts were wrong earlier in the pandemic, when they discouraged the use of masks based on an assumption that asymptomatic people wouldn’t play a large role in spreading the virus.

“Once we realised that the science was different for this virus, we changed our recommendations,” he said.

“Face coverings are a way that we can reopen and we can stay open. That’s what the science says.

“It’s important for people to know that we don’t want to rely on treating our way out of this problem. We really want to prevent the problem. And the power to stop this epidemic is in the hands of the American people.”

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US Surgeon General Jerome Adams. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

Dr Adams has been on something of a media blitz lately.

Yesterday, The New York Times published an extensive profile piece on the doctor, who consented to be interviewed.

The article largely focused on the tension Dr Adams faces in the course of doing his job – he is an African-American Surgeon General with a passion for addressing racial inequities in healthcare, working for a President who has frequently been accused of racism.

Throughout the pandemic, he has faced criticism for his reluctance to publicly contradict Donald Trump – including on the issue of face masks.

“It’s not my place to say what image the President of the United States should be projecting,” he told the Times, addressing that criticism.

“It’s my place to say, ‘Public here’s what you need to do to stay safe.’

“Nowhere in this job description does it say your job is to contradict the President.

“You’re not always going to get along with and agree with everything your boss says or does in any job, but you stay in that job if you feel like you could have an impact.”

The little ones begged me to do a public health video with them after my Sunday morning interview, before the studio team took down the green screen and lights. Their message? Wear a 😷! pic.twitter.com/p3LgccfOTY

— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) July 12, 2020

Dr Adams also fronted up to Face the Nation on CBS last week, where he explained why he was against the idea of a national mask mandate.

“I am saying if we are going to have a mask mandate, we need to understand that works best at the local and state level, along with education. We need people to understand why they are doing it, and we need people to understand why they benefit from it,” said Dr Adams.

“If we just try to mandate it, you have to have an enforcement mechanism, and we are in the midst of a moment when over-policing has caused many different individuals to be killed for very minor offences, and that is an important consideration.

“As Surgeon General, I want people to understand why they should wear a face covering and they are going to be more likely to do it, and more likely to do it willingly, when we are not watching, which is important.”

The program’s host, Margaret Brennan, confronted the Surgeon General with his previous comments dismissing the effectiveness of masks and, in some cases, actively telling Americans not to use them.

“Masks do not work for the general public in preventing them from getting coronavirus,” he told the same show in early March.

There was also this rather blunt tweet from the end of February.

Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS!

They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!
https://t.co/UxZRwxxKL9

— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) February 29, 2020

“I think you have to acknowledge that this mixed messaging has created confusion, and it has drawn into question the credibility of the administration,” Brennan said.

“Science is about giving the best recommendations you can, and when you learn more, you change those recommendations,” Dr Adams told her.

“Everything we knew about coronaviruses before that point told us that people were not likely to spread when they were asymptomatic.

“There was also the very real concern about hording of personal protective equipment (PPE). That was part of it. But the primary reason was because that’s what the science said.”

Today Mr Trump held his first coronavirus briefing since April, where he explicitly urged Americans to protect each other from infection by wearing masks.

“Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact,” Mr Trump said, adding that he himself “will use it gladly” and has “no problem with it”.

“When you can, use the mask. If you’re close to each other, if you’re in a group, I would put it on,” he said.

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Donald Trump at today’s coronavirus briefing. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

It was the first time Mr Trump had issued such a clear, unambiguous instruction regarding masks, having declined to wear one in public himself for most of the pandemic.

“I just don’t want to wear one myself,” he said in April.

“I don’t know, somehow, sitting in the Oval Office behind that beautiful Resolute Desk, the great Resolute Desk – I think wearing a face mask as I greet Presidents, Prime Ministers, dictators, Kings, Queens, I don’t know. Somehow, I don’t see it for myself.”

Mr Trump mocked his political opponent, Joe Biden, for donning a mask outside, and accused a reporter of wearing one to be “politically correct”.

In May, Mr Trump consented to wear a mask behind the scenes while visiting a Ford plant in Michigan, but removed it before facing the cameras, saying he “didn’t want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it”.

At that point, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was still stressing that masks were “recommended but not required”, calling them “the personal choice of the individual”.

Even 10 days ago, when Mr Trump did finally appear in public with a mask on for the first time, he stopped short of advising the public to wear them, merely saying that “it’s fine to wear one if it makes you feel comfortable”.

He brought more clarity to today’s briefing. Asked why he didn’t wear a mask more frequently, Mr Trump produced one from his pocket.

“I do actually do it when I need. I mean, I carry the mask,” he said.

“I view it this way. Anything that potentially can help – and that certainly can potentially help – is a good thing.”