The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that people in the states wear nonmedical, cloth face masks when they leave home.

But medical-grade masks, like N95 respirators, should be left for health workers, who face much greater risk of exposure.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday shifted course on its guidance for masks, saying all Americans should wear a cloth face covering when out in public to avoid spreading the coronavirus.

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The new CDC guidelines don't mean you should rush to find an N95 mask -- those medical-grade masks are in short supply and are needed by health workers on the front lines of the pandemic.

Instead, people should use other cloth masks or homemade face coverings.

Even if you're wearing a face covering, though, you should exercise the same caution as if you weren't wearing one: Stay at least 6 feet away from other people, avoid group gatherings, go outside only for exercise and essential errands, and wash your hands when you return home. .

At the daily White House briefing on Thursday, Deborah Birx, a doctor advising the administration during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the government delayed recommending that everyone wear face coverings because of worries that people would feel "a false sense of security that that mask is protecting you exclusively from getting infected." Wearing a mask isn't a guarantee that you'll be protected, and Birx said she wants everyone to understand that wearing a face covering isn't a substitute for social distancing and other previously issued guidelines.