The images flow in from China and Italy, always the same: People in medical masks hurry through deserted city streets. Now those same images are starting to come in from New York. Is this the future for American cities? For Alabama cities like Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville?

On Sunday, for the first time, President Donald Trump told the press he could see a short period when all Americans wear masks. But only a short period.

"We want our country back," said Trump. "We are not going to be wearing masks forever, but it could be for a short period of time after we get back into gear. I could see something like that happening for a period of time."

"I would hope it would be a very limited period of time," he said.

His comments, in answer to a reporter's question, come as the national discussion heats up over whether average Americans should wear masks in public to guard against coronavirus infection. Yet many public health officials in Alabama and across the nation continue to maintain it’s not necessary.

“The Alabama Department of Public Health does not recommend that persons who are well wear a mask when they go out in public,” said Dr. Karen Landers with ADPH. “Rather, we stress that persons should minimize going out as following the orders of the state health officer, continue social distancing and following respiratory hygiene measures.”

But there’s a movement of scientists and even politicians around the country saying the recommendation that the general public to avoid wearing masks is a serious misstep that could harm community efforts to “flatten the curve” and reduce infection rates.

"I think people should be contemplating wearing masks," said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, on Face the Nation this weekend.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania released a video over the weekend encouraging Pennsylvanians to wear masks when going outside, including the hashtag #Masks4All.

He believes the masks could help stop potential spread of infection when people cough or sneeze in public, but said medical-grade masks should be reserved for healthcare workers.

“Many of us could be walking around with the virus, maybe we have no symptoms, we may never get the symptoms, but we might be able to transmit the virus,” he said.

Even the White House coronavirus task force plans to hold an “active discussion” about community use of masks, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and an adviser to President Trump.

“Because if, in fact, a person who may or may not be infected wants to prevent infecting someone else, one of the best ways to do that is with a mask, so perhaps that’s the way to go,” he told CNN.

But public health officials remain firm. On Monday, the World Health Organization stood by its recommendation, which is shared by the CDC, that people not wear face masks unless they’re sick with COVID-19 or caring for someone who is.

Dr. Mike Ryan with WHO told media on Monday that “there is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit” and indicated that the global shortage of protective supplies for healthcare workers could be threatened if everyone began wearing masks.

It’s that concern over supply shortage that may be driving public health messages about not wearing masks. But if masks help prevent infection in healthcare workers, why couldn’t they do the same for the general public?

The coronavirus spreads mainly between people in close contact, through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, according to the CDC. It can also be transmitted when a person touches a surface that has the virus on it and then touches their face.

With growing evidence that the coronavirus can be spread by infected people who show no symptoms, CDC and WHO guidance to only wear masks when sick has been called into question.

“The value of the mask isn’t necessarily to protect you from getting sick, although it may offer some protection,” Dr. Gottlieb said on television this weekend. “When someone’s who’s infected is wearing a mask, they’re much less likely to transmit infection.”

Dr. Todd McCarty, an infectious disease physician at UAB Health, said there haven’t been enough studies to show whether community use of cloth masks is better than no masks at all.

“It probably doesn’t hurt (to wear a mask), but honestly, I just don’t think we know,” he said. “It’s human nature for people to want to do something, anything, and I think this is low-hanging fruit for an action that may or may not be helpful. Any potential action has downsides and I think sometimes we forget that.”

He pointed out that surgical masks in hospital settings are designed to be frequently changed. If someone in the community wears the same mask or gloves for hours while doing a variety of activities in public, that would likely do nothing to prevent the spread of infection.

He said the best way to reduce transmission is still through social distancing measures like staying home and maintaining a 6-foot distance between people when out in public.

The point of agreement between the #Masks4All crowd and public health officials is that N95 and medical-grade masks should be reserved for healthcare workers because of a critical nationwide shortage of protective supplies. A rise in infected healthcare workers would have catastrophic effects on the nation’s healthcare system during the pandemic.

In response to the supply shortage, community-based efforts to sew cloth masks have cropped up around the country in recent weeks. Healthcare workers are wearing homemade masks when surgical masks run out.

Dr. Heinz Dueffer is an ER doctor at UAB Health in Birmingham. He wears a mask when he goes out in the community and thinks others should, too.

“Nothing is 100% effective, but anything we can do that will decrease the spread is helpful,” he said. “If you know someone who can make you a mask, get somebody to do that. When you’re going to get gas, when you’re going to the grocery store, when you’re going to a restaurant to get takeout, wear a mask.”

Dueffer completed his emergency medicine residency at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City several years ago, and he has watched the rampant spread of the virus in the city with alarm. He points to areas in southeast Asia like Singapore and South Korea, where mask-wearing by the general public is widespread and may have helped those countries better control the spread of coronavirus.

“I’m not going to argue with the ADPH, but I am going to say, ‘Where is the harm?’” he said. “There’s evidence out there that it helps, and I haven’t yet read a study that says it hurts.”

Trump’s comments this week signal that a change in public health recommendations is at least up for discussion.