For the first time President Donald Trump wore a mask in public during his visit to a military hospital as he took a short helicopter ride to a hospital Saturday night. The president’s decision to wear a mask came amidst a spike in cases in the US and after aides and experts urged him to follow his own government’s guidelines on face coverings.
Trump was at the Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington DC to meet wounded military members and health care providers looking after Covid-19 patients. As he was leaving The White House, Trump said to reporters: “When you’re in a hospital, especially … I think it’s expected to wear a mask.” The only other scenario where Trump was seen wearing a mask was behind the scenes during a tour of a Ford plant in May, from which a picture emerged. At the time he refused to wear a mask in public because he said he didn’t want to give the gathered press the pleasure. In recent weeks, several people working alongside Trump have tested positive for coronavirus.
His son Donald Jr’s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, tested positive for Covid-19 before Trump’s rally at Mount Rushmore on 3 July, and the couple had to go into quarantine.
America has been breaking records for new coronavirus cases almost every day, and hospitals in the new hotspots in southern and western states are feeling burdened. Many believe businesses in those areas reopened too soon, following repeated urgings to do so by the president, without the virus being under control. Trump wore a dark-colored mask covering as he began his hospital visit on Saturday, walking with an entourage who were also wearing masks.
Photo Courtesy of SkyNews