Trump on wearing a coronavirus face mask: 'I don't think I'm going to be doing it'

Rolling out new guidelines from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention recommending Americans wear a mask or scarf over their mouths to slow the spread of the coronavirus, President Trump said he himself wasn't likely to do so himself.

"It's voluntary, you don't have to do it," Trump said. "They suggest it for a period of time. But this is voluntary. I don't think I'm going to be doing it. But you have a lot of ways you can look at it as follows, the CDC is recommending that Americans wear a basic cloth or fabric mask that be either purchased online or simply made at home."

"I'm feeling good," Trump said. "I just don't want to be doing that somehow, sitting in the Oval Office, behind that beautiful Resolute desk, the great Resolute desk, I think wearing a face mask as i greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don't know, somehow, I just don't see it for myself. Maybe I'll change my mind, but this will pass, and hopefully it'll pass very quickly."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued guidance recommending the general public use  face coverings while in public to allow for more higher-grade protective equipment like N-95 masks for hospitals and health care workers. During the coronavirus outbreak, healthcare workers are experiencing severe shortages in personal protective equipment such as face masks. 

Surgeon General Jerome Adams today at the daily coronavirus task force briefing echoed the CDC guidelines stating that that the face coverings are not intended to protect the wearer, but instead to prevent wearers from spreading coronavirus in public.