Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is furious that President Trump didn’t wear a face mask while visiting her city on Wednesday.
Trump, who wore a face mask for the first time while visiting Walter Reed military hospital in D.C. over the weekend, did not wear one during his visit to the UPS hub at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Earlier this month, Mayor Bottoms, who is not a medical doctor, signed an executive order requiring masks or face coverings in public spaces.
Bottoms, who wore face masks and practiced social distancing for months, also revealed she tested positive for COVID-19 and showed no symptoms.
Wearing a mask didn’t protect the mayor or her husband from contracting the virus.
Speaking to MSNBC following Trump’s visit on Wednesday, Mayor Bottoms said:
“Well, Donald Trump is actually violating the law as he stands on our tarmac without a mask. The city of Atlanta owns and operates Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the busiest in the world and in Atlanta, our city controlled assets, we have a mandate that you should have on a mask. I am very glad to see that the others on the tarmac are following the law in Atlanta but it’s not surprising to me that Donald Trump is once again breaking it.”
Scientists are divided over the effectiveness of wearing non-surgical grade face masks or cloth coverings outside of a clinical setting.
Until May, experts such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, discouraged people from wearing masks because face masks may actually increase the likelihood of healthy people contracting the coronavirus.
This is because people who are not trained to wear face masks continuously touch their faces while pulling the masks on and off.
Research shows proper hand washing and not touching your face reduces the spread of virus.
A recent study of patients who tested positive for coronavirus shows the virus was not detected in droplets of people who were breathing normally or speaking.
The virus was barely detected in the saliva droplets of patients who coughed forcefully. The study proved that the virus is not spread by people who are asymptomatic (not coughing or sneezing).
