Surgeon general urges people to stop buying masks to combat coronavirus

The Surgeon General of the United States has advised the public not to buy masks in an attempt to combat the coronavirus.

"Seriously people - STOP BUYING MASKS," Jerome M. Adams wrote on Twitter. "They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!"

"The best way to protect yourself and your community is with everyday preventive actions, like staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help slow the spread of respiratory illness. Get your #FluShot- fewer flu patients = more resources for #COVID19 [sic]," he continued. 

The upper case emphasis is all his, demonstrating his insistence that citizens stick to the rubric provided by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, which he linked to in his tweet. In the script provided by the CDC, there is a section that corroborates Adams' stance on masks.

"CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19," the CDC states. "Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others. The use of facemasks is also crucial for health workers and people who are taking care of someone in close settings."

China built a 1000 bed hospital in five days to treat the coronavirus: 

The Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, said last week that the US has a stockpile of 30 million N95 masks, but requires at least 270 million more for health care workers to prepare for a potential epidemic, according to USA Today.

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For the general public, the CDC recommends "everyday preventative actions to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases." This includes, "[Avoiding] close contact with people who are sick, [staying] home when you are sick, [covering] your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash, [cleaning] and [disinfecting] frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe."

87 cases of the SARS-like virus have been confirmed in the US, as well as two deaths. Globally, more than 90,000 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus - the vast majority being in China.