Dick Cheney poses for photo to encourage mask wearing

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Former Vice President Dick Cheney posed for a photo posted Friday by his daughter, Sen. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., to encourage mask wearing as coronavirus cases surge in some parts of the country.

“Dick Cheney says WEAR A MASK. #realmenwearmasks,” the younger Cheney posted along with a photo of her father on Friday.

Nationwide, at least 16 states require face masks in public where social distancing is not possible -- California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington, in addition to Washington D.C.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Thursday he would do “everything possible” to make it required that all Americans wear masks in public for the duration of the pandemic.

BIDEN SAYS HE WOULD USE FEDERAL POWER TO REQUIRE AMERICANS TO WEAR FACE MASK IN PUBLIC 

“The one thing we do know, these masks make a gigantic difference. I would insist that everybody in public be wearing that mask,” he said. “Anyone to reopen, it would have to make sure that they walked into a business that had masks.”

But mask-wearing has been hotly debated in many parts of the country and among lawmakers. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., recently said that “everyone should just wear a damn mask.”

ARIZONA COUNCILMAN CHANTS 'I CAN'T BREATHE' BEFORE RIPPING OFF FACE MASK

But President Trump has not been seen in public wearing a mask and has dismissed suggestions he should wear one. He has also suggested they could be counterproductive.

“They put their finger on the mask, and they take them off, and then they start touching their eyes and touching their nose and their mouth,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal last week. “And then they don’t know how they caught it?”

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A large number of the increase in cases can be attributed to expanding test capacity, but the percentage of positive tests has also increased nationwide in the past two weeks, after a sharp decrease. As of Friday, it sat at 6.1 percent nationwide after reaching a low of 4.4 percent.