Hillsborough County suggests wearing mask in public

Update No. 56 • April 8, 2020

Hillsborough County continues to stress that residents should follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation to wear a cloth mask, including homemade masks, in community settings.

It’s easy to make your own face mask out of common household items. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams shows how to make one with a folded T-shirt and two rubber bands.

Widespread COVID-19 across the country, along with new information about how the coronavirus spreads, led the CDC to issue the advisory recommending the use of masks in public. It emphasizes that wearing a face mask does not eliminate the need to remain at least 6 feet from anyone else or to follow other preventive measures such as frequent hand washing.

The goal is to protect people around you if you are infected with COVID-19, even if you do not have symptoms. Cloth face coverings should not be placed on children younger than 2 years old or people who have trouble breathing. There are not enough surgical face masks for everyone, and available ones should go first to healthcare workers and first responders.