L.A. MAYOR URGES ALL TO WEAR MASKS
LOS ANGELES — The mayor of Los Angeles on Wednesday told everyone in the nation’s second-largest city to start wearing masks to combat the coronavirus, but California’s governor isn’t ready to take that idea statewide.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday he’s focused instead on keeping people inside. He also announced the state may need 66,000 additional hospital beds, 16,000 more than previously forecast, to handle the crush of illnesses expected in May.
At an afternoon news conference, Mayor Eric Garcetti said he had been awaiting advice from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on mask-wearing but with the COVID-19 rate surging had decided to wait no longer.
The mayor said all 4 million residents who are performing essential tasks such as food shopping should wear homemade, non-medical face coverings, or even bandannas, as people in other COVID19-struck countries have done.
“To be clear, you should still stay at home. This isn’t an excuse to suddenly all go out,” Garcetti said.
He also said people shouldn’t use medicalgrade masks, which are in short supply.
The mayor said even a “tucked-in bandanna” could slow the spread of the virus.
“I know it will look surreal,” he said, donning a mask. “We’re going to have to get used to seeing each other like this . . . This will be the look.”
Trump mulling flight restrictions
President Donald Trump said he is “thinking about” enacting new restrictions on domestic flights. Trump told reporters at a White House briefing Wednesday that “we’re certainly looking at it.”
He said, “we’re getting into a position now where we want to do that, we have to do that . . . and we may have some recommendations.”
Trump also acknowledged that the federal stockpile is nearly depleted of personal protective equipment used by doctors and nurses to protect themselves from the new coronavirus. “It is,” Trump told reporters Wednesday, “because we’re sending it directly to hospitals.” Concerns about the stockpile levels were first reported by the Washington Post.
Russia supplies paid for: State Dept.
The State Department said a planeload of medical supplies sent from Russia to the United States on Wednesday was purchased under an agreement between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement that the supplies, including ventilators and personal protective equipment, were not a gift.