For the first time since the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic spread in the country, United States President Donald Trump stepped out in public wearing a face mask after months of refusing to wear one.
On Saturday, July 11, Trump was spotted with the protective gear while paying a visit to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Before leaving the White House, he told reporters: “I’ll probably have a mask if you must know. I’ll probably have a mask. I think when you’re in a hospital especially in that particular setting, where you are talking to a lot of soldiers, people that in some cases just got off the operating table.”
“I think it’s a great thing to wear a mask. I’ve never been against masks but I do believe they have a time and a place,” he added.
This surprised many after Trump had vocally expressed his intentions to be mask-free despite the “pleas” of his aides and after having mocked Democratic rival, Joe Biden, for wearing one in public. “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it,” he said back then. “Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens – I just don’t see it.”
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(ALSO READ: Bill Nye the Science Guy explains the importance of wearing face masks during this time)
As of writing, the US has 3.29 million confirmed COVID-19 cases with 970K recoveries and 137K deaths.
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