U.S. Health officials are debating whether to implement a nationwide face mask guideline to protect Americans from coronavirus.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams is pushing against it, saying face masks are not an effective enough way to prevent COVID-19 because you can still transfer water droplets containing the virus when you touch your face to adjust the mask.

The CDC is considering making the recommendation, but is also expressing concern for the shortage of protective equipment for healthcare workers, adding they don’t want to make it worse.

The World Health organization says people who are sick should wear masks to prevent spreading the illness, even if it’s not a medical grade mask.

Unfortunately there are an unknown number of Americans who are infected but asymptomatic. Even though they are not sick, they can still spread the virus. For this reason some are arguing that everyone should wear a mask in public.

Yesterday, President Trump suggested that people could wear a scarf over their face rather than a mask. This would ensure the dwindling supply of PPE’s will be available to the first responders and healthcare workers.

Another problem, according to health experts, is that many lay people are wearing the masks incorrectly which renders them ineffective.

WHO Executive Director Dr. Mike Ryan also says there isn’t enough proof to show wearing a mask would prevent a healthy person from getting sick.