It is an absolute and shameful tragedy that the United States is virtually the only primary country where the COVID-19 pandemic worsens during the day. The coronavirus killed 150,000 Americans. States such as California, Texas, and Florida have the highest mortality rates recorded. The economic horrors of this pandemic are also intensifying, as our gross domestic product is sinking through an annual rate of nearly 33% and the $600 in weekly unemployment benefits have expired for 30 million workers.
If we have any hope of solving this economy, opening up safe schools and preventing countless deaths, we will first have to control this virus. That’s why, in late July, in combination with 14 other senators and dozens of U.S. representatives, I brought common sense, a practical and affordable law to protect Americans from the coronavirus pandemic: mask for all.
This law will particularly develop the production of high quality masks in this country and distribute 3 loose reusable masks to the person, adding those that have never had a mask. It will also end our depfinishence in China and other countries for this life-saving product now and in the future.
The science is clear: dressing in a mask only saves lives, however, the widespread use of the mask will allow Americans to return to previous paintings and reunite families who have remained separate.
It’s not a political or partisan issue. In fact, at a recent Senate Health Committee hearing, I asked Trump’s management experts if they agreed with my Masks for All proposal. Dr. Anthony Fauci replied: “There is no doubt that you dressed in a mask of you and of you. So it’s the other people who make each other,” he said. “Anything that promotes the use of the mask, whether hand mask delivery or any other mechanism, I am very much in favor.
Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, agreed. “If we can get everyone to wear a mask right now, I think in the next four, six or eight weeks we could control this epidemic,” he said in an interview with the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Our point of view: face mask. They’ll have to be mandatory.
It is time for us, in spite of everything, to pay attention to our public experts in fitness. Dr. Fauci and Dr. Redfield perceive that evidence from around the world shows that dressing in a mask is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and saving lives. South Korea, one of the dirtiest rich countries to date, began buying masks from February and provided them to its other people at an affordable price. Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Germany, Vietnam and dozens of other countries have shown us that the spread of COVID-19 can be contained with widespread masking.
Only when the virus is contained can it revive the economy. According to one estimate, the widespread use of the mask can be worth up to $1 trillion for our economy by avoiding closures and putting other people back in paintings earlier. And in terms of public health, dressing in a mask, simple, is a matter of life and death. One projection predicts that the universal use of the mask can save more than 30,000 U.S. lives. Until November 1, compared to our current trajectory.
Unfortunately, with the Trump administration incapable of acting in a competent and scientific manner, Congress — in a bipartisan way — must take the lead. Our Masks for All legislation will instruct the Trump administration to utilize the Defense Production Act to produce and deliver three high-quality, reusable masks to every person in the country via the U.S. postal system. They masks would also be made available free at testing sites, post offices and pharmacies, as well as homeless shelters, jails, detention centers and other congregate-care settings.
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The first priority would, of course, be the frontline staff for the care of the physical state. Incomprehensible, in the world’s richest country, doctors and nurses still lack the high-quality non-public apparatus they desire for their lives and their patients. This law requires the government to produce and obtain the necessary surgical mask and N-95 respirators for all fitness personnel in the country. It will also give priority to the wishes of other essential staff.
This law will build not only the availability of mask, but also the quality. Thanks to large-scale production and extensive studies and developments, in a few months we will be able to produce and distribute high quality masks, comfortable, easy to install and that can be cleaned for continuous use. These high quality masks will be for the user and the other people with which he comes into contact.
The American people are with us. One recent poll found that 3 in 4 Americans — including 58% of Republicans — support requiring mask wearing outside the home. The majority of U.S. states, D.C., and Puerto Rico have passed mask mandates. It is only fair that the federal government now steps in to make these requirements as easy, effective and costless as possible for the American people.
Given the urgency of the moment this bill should be passed as quickly as possible by being incorporated into major coronavirus legislation currently being negotiated. Providing high quality masks for all is an effective disease prevention tool that must be immediately implemented. Every day we delay, lives are needlessly lost.
In this unprecedented moment in American history we need to come together — government and private sector, manufacturers and workers, scientists and ordinary citizens — to combat this horrific pandemic. Making sure that every American has a high-quality mask, and wears it, is an important step forward in achieving that goal.
Bernie Sanders is a senator from Vermont. Follow him on Twitter: @SenSanders