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A newly released poll found that 55 percent of Americans who left their homes in the past week said they were a face mask or face covering, while 45 percent said they did not.
According to the poll, 69 percent of Democrats and 47 percent of Republicans wore a covering.
The ABC poll was conducted between Wednesday, April 8 and Thursday, April 9, days after President Donald Trump announced the Center for Disease Control revised its guidelines on wearing masks.
The CDC recently changed its stance and said that those venturing into the community during the COVID-19 outbreak, after initially saying it was only key for healthcare workers.
“CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.
“CDC also advises the use of simple cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others.
"Cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, voluntary public health measure.”
President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 task force has cautioned that even if one is wearing a mask, it doesn’t prevent the spread of the virus, and people should still be socially distancing themselves from one another.
"It is not a substitute for the presidential guidelines (on social distancing) that have already gone out," Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force said at its daily news briefing on Thursday, April 2, said.
"Don't get a false sense of security that that mask is protecting you exclusively from getting infected. This worries us. That’s why the debate is continuing about the mask.’’
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