Fury as 'arrogant' US Vice-President Mike Pence flouts mask rule in hospital visit

Mr Pence appeared to be the only person present without a facial covering at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He was accompanied by commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration Dr Stephen Hahn, who wore a protective mask for the visit.

This goes against the he US government’s own coronavirus-prevention advice.

The US government advice says that people should wear face coverings “in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain”.

The Mayo Clinic itself requires all patients and visitors to its medical centers to wear a mask or face covering.

In a deleted tweet, the clinic said the vice-president had been notified in advance of its policy requiring masks, the BBC reports.

Mr Pence has since defended his decision to not wear PPE in a hospital during a global pandemic.

The Vice-President has reportedly claimed the lack of PPE was necessary “in order to meet with staff and patients”.

When asked by a reporter on Tuesday to explain why he did not wear a mask, the vice-president said he and everyone around him are regularly tested for the coronavirus.

“When the CDC issued guidelines about wearing a mask, it was their recognition that people that may have the coronavirus could prevent the possibility of conveying the virus to someone else by wearing a mask,” he said.

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The move gained a huge amount of backlash on Twitter, with one user writing: “Here is Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the Coronavirus Task Force, refusing to follow Mayo Clinic masking policy and CDC guidelines for social distancing. The arrogance and irresponsibility is astounding.”

A second commented: “I’m going to say it again. As a @MayoClinic patient, the @VP not wearing a mask is a slap in the face to every doctor, nurse, medical personnel, employees, and patients!”

“Pence should be upholding the safety of wearing a mask- not blowing it off. Arrogance as far as I’m concerned,” added a third.

The politician is not the first White House official to ignore the risks of not wearing PPE.

President Donald Trump himself previously said he has no plans to wear a mask.

The news comes as the US coronavirus death toll has now exceeded the 58,220 American lives lost during the Vietnam War, according to the latest official figures.

Coronavirus cases in the country have now topped one million after doubling in just 18 days. US cases now make up one-third of all infections in the world, according to a Reuters tally.

The actual number of cases is thought to be even higher than figures show.