U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams is outlining the importance of wearing masks as the coronavirus pandemic rages on.

During an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Adams acknowledged that there are still hotspots across the country as he highlighted the progressive medical milestones that have aided healthcare professionals in treating coronavirus patients.

“I think it’s important for everyone to know that first off, we are seeing increases in cases in many spots across the country,” Adams said. “But, we’re in a very different place than what we were in February and in March.”

After outlining the improvements that have been made over the last several months, he also noted the overall goal of preventing the spread of the virus and not relying on treatments.

Adams continued, “We have increased testing. We’ve topped 40 million tests. We have increased personal protective equipment. We’ve got better treatments like Remdesivir and steroids.”

“But it’s important for people to know that we don’t want to rely on treating our way out of this problem,” he added. “We really want to prevent the problem.”

Adams’ latest remarks come as several states facing increases in coronavirus cases have begun to enforce mask mandates requiring residents to wear masks when out in public.

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See Adams’ remarks below (starting at 14:00):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkW5dnmJ40A

The mandates have been met with opposition from those who insist mask requirements are an infringement upon their Constitutional rights.

However, Adams also pushed back against this claim as he reiterated the benefits of wearing masks to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

“That’s why I’m pleading with your viewers, I’m begging you, please understand that we are not trying to take away your freedoms when we say, ‘Wear a face covering,’” Adams said.

As he pleaded with viewers to wear masks, he also reiterated that no one is trying to strip Americans of their rights.

He continued, “We are not trying to take away your ability to go out when we say keep restaurant capacity under 50%. We are saying if we do these things, we can actually open and stay open. We can get back to school, to worship, to jobs. We can do this.”

As of Monday morning, there are 3.9 million known coronavirus cases in the United States as the death toll over 143,000 and there are over 1.8 million reported recoveries.