LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — On Friday, the Center's for Disease Control and President Trump recommended that people begin to wear cloth face coverings in public spaces to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
While the recommendations are voluntary, masks can help to prevent people with the virus who are asymptomatic from unknowingly spreading it to others, according the CDC.
The recommendations call for people to wear, "cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain," according to the CDC's website.
It gives examples of grocery stores and pharmacies as places where social distancing can be difficult. The CDC also describes face masks as, "cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost," as an option for people.
Some materials that can be used as a face covering include a scarf, bandana, old t-shirt, sweatshirt or towel. Online tutorials are available to teach people how to sew masks, like this one from Joann Fabrics.
There are also easy, no sew tutorials available. An easy mask can be made by threading either end of a bandana through a hair tie or rubber band and hooking the bands around either ear.
People should not wear N95 or other medical masks in public, according to the CDC. Those masks should be left for healthcare workers and first responders.
