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OAN Newsroom<\/p>\n
White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx speaks to reporters in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Lincoln, Neb., Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, after meeting with Gov. Pete Ricketts and community and state health officials. (AP Photo\/Nati Harnik)<\/p>\n
Dr. Deborah Birx has called for statewide face mask mandates, despite mounting public resentment.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo every university student out there, if you have done something that is not so great and so smart, you\u2019ve been in a crowd without a mask, you\u2019re likely to become infected,\u201d she stated. \u201cDo not go home to your parents or your grandparents over Labor Day weekend and spread the virus to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The White House task force coordinator made those comments to reporters in Livonia, Michigan on Wednesday. Her remarks came after many schools across the U.S. resumed in-person classes with new safety precautions in place.<\/p>\n
Birx also praised state and local officials for enforcing face mask mandates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best enforcement for masks is retail. I will see people like get out of their car, run up to the gas station and then they see the sign: \u2018No mask, no entry.\u2019 That kind of constant behavioral reinforcement, that we need to have a mask on when we\u2019re in public and anywhere. So it is not theoretical, masks work.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Dr. Deborah Birx, Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force<\/p>\n According to\u00a0reports<\/a>, the number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 6 million, despite face mask mandates being in place for months in a number of states.<\/p>\n