NATIONWIDE -- Speaking to Pittsburgh CBS television affiliate KDKA Thursday, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said that were he president, he would make facial coverings mandatory in public spaces.
“The one thing we do know is these masks make a gigantic difference. I would insist that everybody out in public be wearing that mask,” Biden told KDKA. “Anyone to reopen would have to make sure that they walked into a business that had masks.”
Pressed to clarify, Biden suggested he would make it a federal mandate.
The statement puts more distance between Biden and rival President Donald Trump, who has suggested wearing a facial covering is optional and has been reluctant to wear one in public himself.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged the use of cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. It states that COVID-19 principally spreads from person to person respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.