Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are considering changing their guidance and encouraging people to wear masks when they go out in public.
But The Washington Post noted there is still no agreement on whether the use of facial coverings would make a major difference in curtailing the outbreak of the coronavirus.
And some experts are concerned it could provide people with a false sense of security and make them less likely to follow social distancing guidelines.
A recommendation now being considered by the CDC calls for people to be encouraged to use do-it-yourself cloth coverings on their faces, according to the newspaper. The new guidance would make it clear the public should not use medical masks that are needed by healthcare workers, the Post reported.
Austria is joining a small number of countries to make wearing face masks outside the home mandatory, the Financial Times reported. And Time noted that nearly everyone on Hong Kong's streets, trains, and buses has been wearing masks since the outbreak. It said South Korea, Singapore, and Japan have distributed face masks to residents.
President Donald Trump was asked on Monday whether everyone should wear a nonmedical fabric mask.
"That's certainly something we could discuss," Trump said.
Thomas Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, maintained the CDC should push people to use nonmedical masks.
"I think it would be a prudent step we can all take to reduce transmission" by people who are infected but have no symptoms, he said.