US President Donald Trump was seen wearing a face mask in public for the first time on Saturday, 11 July, during his visit to the Walter Reed military hospital outside Washington, where he met health care workers and wounded soldiers.
Trump was wearing a dark mask featuring the presidential seal on it.
Earlier in April, as per a BBC report, the United States president had told reporters that he would not wear a mask and even mocked rival Joe Biden for wearing one.
“Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens - I just don't see it,” he had said back then.
Masks Have ‘a Time & Place’
According to a BBC report, as Trump was leaving the White House, he said that he had never been against masks but he believes “they have a time and a place."
“I think when you’re in a hospital, especially in that particular setting, where you’re talking to a lot of soldiers and people that, in some cases, just got off the operating tables, I think it’s a great thing to wear a mask,” he added.
Trump rushed past reporters and did not address any questions. It was a hotly anticipated moment for the media as he had had a change of heart to a practice recommended by the experts at the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which he had earlier resisted.
News reports this week said that the president’s aides had to literally beg him to wear a mask in public so that it sends a positive message to the people of the country who are currently battling a crisis due to COVID-19.
The US has seen another spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. A total of 66,528 infections have been recorded which is a new record in itself and the country has seen almost 1,35,000 deaths since the malady began.
(With inputs from BBC.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)