President Donald Trump finally began to encourage people to wear masks, even without wearing one. Meanwhile, his son Donald Trump Jr. is actively spreading doubts about the effectiveness of the masks against the coronavirus.
© Angela Weiss / AFP / Getty Images
Donald Trump Jr. poses during a signing event for his new book “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and wants silence us” at Barnes & Noble on 5th Avenue on November 5, 2019 in New York. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images)
On Facebook, Trump Jr. posted a picture of a lab where scientists worked in certain hazardous material suits known as positive pressure suits. The text in the image says, “This is what virologists use to protect themselves from a virus. However, don’t worry. Your scarf probably works, too.”
The image is from 2017 and was taken at the Wuhan Virology Institute in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province.
In publishing the image, Trump Jr. wrote: “Solid point.” The post has received over 40,000 shares and over 69,000 reactions on Facebook.
Facts First: It is untrue and dangerous to suggest that face masks and covers do not help prevent the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus, which has delicate More than 517,000 people from China reported their first cases to the World Health Organization in December.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention point out, coronavirus spreads “through respiratory drops produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks” and “These drops can fall into people’s mouths or noses. that are close to or possibly inhaled on the lightweight. “
The main reason for wearing a face mask is to prevent personal drops from spreading to others.
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University, in a study published in the journal Physics of Fluids on Tuesday, found that the bandanas reduced the average distance cough traveled from 8 feet to 3.6 feet. A folded kerchief took that distance up to 1.25 feet. Commercial cone masks reduced the distance to 8 inches and a two-layer stitched mask to 2.5 inches.
Pointing to a 2017 image of researchers wearing positive pressure suits while studying various viruses in no way refutes or casts doubt on how masks and face covers can help the average person prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Going against the CDC-recommended guidelines, which the administration continually points out, Trump Jr. appears to be trying to cast conspiratorial doubts about a life-saving measure.
On Tuesday, however, Trump Jr. also told Fox Business: “I don’t think it’s too complicated to wear a mask or wash your hands and follow basic hygiene protocols.”
Update: This story has been updated to include recent comments that Trump Jr. made to Fox Business about wearing masks.
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