Vice President Mike Pence, center, visits a patient who survived...

Vice President Mike Pence, center, visits a patient who survived the coronavirus and was going to give blood during a tour of the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Jim Mone

Vice President Mike Pence Sunday night conceded "I should have worn a mask" in his visit to the Mayo Clinic last week.

Pence was roundly criticized for failing to wear a mask on his visit to the world-renowned medical facility in Minnesota. Later, in an explanation he repeated on a Fox News town hall Sunday along with President Donald Trump, Pence said he had believed a mask was only necessary to stop someone who was positive for the coronavirus from spreading it.

Pence said he and Trump are tested regularly.

After a torrent of cricitism, Pence wore a mask on a later visit to a ventilator plant and on Fox News he conceded that he should have worn a mask to the Mayo Clinic, saying "I should have worn a mask."

Wearing a mask has been strongly recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a way of stemming the spread of the virus.

In New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has said it is the public's responsibility to wear masks.

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