Trump refuses to consider national mask mandate to curb COVID-19

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not consider a national mandate requiring people to wear masks to combat the spread of the coronavirus. 

Asked in an interview on Fox News to be broadcast on Sunday if he would consider a mandate, Trump said: "No, I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don't believe in that." 

Trump has been reluctant to wear a face mask, with a report in May suggesting that he feared doing so would "send the wrong message" and harm his re-election chances. The U.S. president wore a mask in public for the first time last week. 

The number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has risen to over 3.6 million, and the death toll has surpassed 139,000. Both numbers are the largest in the world. Health authorities reported 78,000 new cases across the country on Thursday, according to the database run by Johns Hopkins University. 

Nevertheless, Trump has urged a return to normal, stressing the importance of reigniting the economy. He has also made reopening public schools a focus of his re-election campaign, urging school districts to offer a full schedule of classes. 

According to a CNN report on Friday, the White House is blocking U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield and other officials from the agency from testifying before a House Education and Labor Committee hearing on reopening schools next week. 

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