Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, came out on the side of wearing face masks in an interview on "Meet the Press" today, saying that the ongoing debate regarding the advisability of wearing masks is "bizarre."
NBC News reports that Collins was asked about various comments US President Donald Trump has made about masks ("masks cause problems too" and "I think masks are good") on Fox News, and responded that anyone new to the political scene would be "astounded, puzzled, amazed" at the controversy.
"It is bizarre that we have turned mask-wearing into something political," he said. "How could it be that something as basic as a public health action that we have very strong evidence can help seems to attach to people’s political party? For starters, can we just walk away from that?"