As more places across the US offer people a chance to shop or dine inside, the issue of whether to wear a mask has again become a flashpoint.
There are 17 states where the number of coronavirus cases are trending up, and many governors have told citizens that now is an important time to wear a face covering.
Virginia on Tuesday became the latest state to compel people to wear masks in certain situations. The rule applies to anyone 10 years of age or older within a public indoor space, Gov. Ralph Northam said. Masks will be required on public transportation, the governor said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing a cloth face covering in public when it is hard to stay socially distant.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, recently said masks definitely prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
"What we have said to people is there is clear scientific evidence now, by all the droplet experiments that happened, and that others have done, to show that a mask does prevent droplets from reaching others," Birx said on "Fox News Sunday."
"We need to be wearing masks in public when we cannot social distance."
But some Americans have resisted wearing a face covering, arguing that adhering to mask wearing rules feels like a forfeiture of their freedoms.
The city of Stillwater, Oklahoma, revoked an order requiring residents to wear face coverings inside buildings after workers received threats.
In Miami Beach, a man shouted "this is a false flag, a fake pandemic" in a grocery store during a profanity-laced tirade in early May as a code compliance officer told him he needed a mask to enter. A Family Dollar security guard in Michigan was shot dead after he told a woman to wear a face mask, officials said earlier this month.
President Donald Trump doesn't wear mask in front of the cameras. Critics say he sets a bad example.
Joe Biden on Monday, in his first public appearance in months, wore one while at a Memorial Day event. And a photo of it ended up on the President's Twitter feed.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnaney was asked about a retweet the President posted that included a photo of Biden wearing a mask and sunglasses with the caption: "This might help explain why Trump doesn't like to wear a mask in public."
When asked why Trump was apparently criticizing the Democratic presidential candidate, McEnaney quipped: "Look the president's excited to see that Joe emerged from the basement. It is a bit peculiar though that in his basement, right next to his wife, he's not wearing a mask. But he's wearing one outdoors when he's socially distant. So, I think that there was a discrepancy there."
The President told reporters he wasn't criticizing Biden.
In an interview with CNN's Dana Bash in Delaware -- Biden's first in-person interview since being knocked off the campaign trail by the coronavirus pandemic -- the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said Trump is fueling a cultural opposition to wearing masks when "every leading doc in the world is saying we should wear a mask when you're in a crowd."
By Tuesday evening, more than 1,680,000 Americans have been infected with the coronavirus, and more than 98,800 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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So 50% of antibody tests might be wrong, CDC says
Bosses should not use antibody tests to determine whether employees should come back to work, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in new guidance.
The serologic tests, which are used to determine whether people have been infected in the past with Covid-19, might be wrong up to half the time.
"In a population where the prevalence is 5%, a test with 90% sensitivity and 95% specificity will yield a positive predictive value of 49%. In other words, less than half of those testing positive will truly have antibodies," the CDC says.
They are not accurate enough to use to make important policy...
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