Even though Texas and many other states have mask mandates in place, there are many people who refuse to wear one.

CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield urged everyone to wear masks while speaking at a press conference in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are rising.

“If all of us would put on a face covering now for the next four weeks, six weeks, we could drive this epidemic to the ground,” he said.

Dr. Redfield stressed that masks are one of the most powerful weapons you could ask for in the fight against the coronavirus. He went on to say, “the most important thing that I could ask the American public to do is to fully embrace face coverings, to fully embrace careful hand hygiene, and to fully embrace social distancing.”

The CDC first recommended people wear masks to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus on April 3. The virus primarily spreads through respiratory droplets from the nose and mouth while people are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic, unaware of the fact that they have the virus. A study published in the medical journal The Lancet found that the use of face masks resulted in a large reduction in the risk of infection.

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