they know why and are not saying for fear of starting a panic
Makes sense. No way a government would ever want to strike fear in its constituents and incite them to panic and stay inside their homes instead of going out and about.
Actually the government lied to prevent panic by saying that no mask were needed. If the government had said wear a mask because a highly communicable disease is present people would have fled cities leaving their homes to all be looted. So the government lied, in fact most everything reported in the media is a lie
I VOTED FOR TRUMP TWICE, AND WILL VOTE FOR HIM AGAIN
