No, CDC didn’t just say to wear mask in case of nuclear explosion. Here are the facts
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, some social media users are claiming the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had just advised wearing a face mask in the event of a nuclear explosion.
No, this isn’t a new guidance issued by the agency. However, the CDC did make that recommendation in 2018, well before the COVID-19 pandemic and current Russian invasion.
Here’s why:
The Facts
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military forces on nuclear alert on Feb. 27 three days after Russia attacked neighboring Ukraine in Eastern Europe, McClatchy News reported.
On Feb. 28, President Joe Biden was asked whether Americans should be “worried about nuclear war.”
“No,” Biden firmly responded. The White House press secretary also said the U.S. has its “own preparations” on how to deal with nuclear threats, but the administration had not raised the country’s alert levels.
In recent days, several Twitter posts emerged in which some social media users are saying the CDC had issued new guidance on nuclear attacks.
“According to the latest CDC guidelines: in the event of a nuclear attack, wear a cloth mask,” one user wrote on March 1 with a World War III hashtag.
“The CDC says we should keep our masks ..they will give more protection against a nuclear explosion ..than the virus !,” another wrote March 2.
Those claims aren’t based on anything the CDC has currently said, but the agency has addressed how to handle nuclear blasts in prior years.
In 2018, the CDC issued a memo on “frequently asked questions about a nuclear blast” due to public concerns expressed over “threats of terrorism” in that year. It was last reviewed April 4, 2018.
The agency gave advice on how to protect oneself and their families during a nuclear blast and said if you’re already in a shelter if a blast occurs, “cover your mouth and nose with a face mask or other material.”
This advice came amid early 2018 tensions between President Donald Trump and North Korea. One public example of such conflict involved Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader, saying in a televised speech that the entire U.S. was in range of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and that a so-called nuclear button was “always on my table.” Trump responded on Twitter by saying that his button is “much bigger” and “more powerful” than Kim’s, the BBC reported.
Still, the social media users spreading the claim are taking that earlier advice out of context to complain about the CDC.
“Covid is so dangerous the CDC recommends wearing a mask after a nuclear explosion,” one Twitter user wrote Feb. 27 in a misleading post.
“CDC’s guidance in case of a nuclear explosion. We are led by deeply unserious people,” another wrote Feb. 28.
Both of these two posts included a screenshot of Ready.gov’s recent advice on a nuclear explosion, not the CDC’s 2018 memo.
Yes, that public service campaign did offer advice about what to do in the event of a nuclear attack, including recommending face masks, after Russia’s invasion was launched. But it didn’t come from the CDC as many users suggest with their screenshots.
Ready.gov suggested wearing a mask if you’re inside during a nuclear blast, similarly to the CDC’s advice that came years before.
Both the U.S. and Russia have the largest nuclear stockpiles worldwide, according to The Associated Press.
In regards to Putin putting his forces on nuclear alert, an assistant professor at the department of political science at the University of Waterloo, Alexander Lanoszka, told Al Jazeera that “it seemed that it was an inevitable tactic played too early.”
“For Putin, this might be problematic because future threats might not be believed. The United States, NATO, and the EU do not appear to be too fazed by it because we have observed no changes in the US, French, or British nuclear operations.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 12:32 PM with the headline "No, CDC didn’t just say to wear mask in case of nuclear explosion. Here are the facts."
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