CDC urges ‘universal’ indoor mask use when not at home

As the pandemic worsens, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is making an extra push for people to wear masks.

The agency recommended in a report that officials at the state and local level “issue policies or directives mandating universal use of face masks in indoor (nonhousehold) settings” as one strategy to combat the virus, a tactic President Trump and many GOP governors have resisted.

The CDC said wearing a mask is most important when someone is indoors somewhere besides their own home and outdoors when six feet of distance cannot be maintained. Masks should also be used inside one’s household when someone is infected or has had recent exposure to the virus, the report said.

Things are getting worse: Wearing masks is the first strategy listed among many in the CDC report, which warns that mitigation measures are increasingly important “with colder weather, more time spent indoors, the ongoing U.S. holiday season, and silent spread of disease.”

And maybe skip that indoor restaurant meal: The report also recommends that people “avoid nonessential indoor spaces and crowded outdoor settings.”