Heading into the Fourth of July weekend, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams on Friday urged Americans to wear a mask if they want “more independence and more freedom.”

Adams, during NBC’s “Today,” advised people to make their decisions to attend a gathering amid the coronavirus pandemic based on their own health, emphasizing the importance of wearing a face covering and social distancing to prevent the spread.

“As we go into this Fourth of July weekend, it’s important that everyone remembers my surgeon general’s prescription for staying safe from coronavirus,” Adams told NBC’s Craig Melvin. “Number one, know your risk. We know that people who are older and people who have chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure are at higher risk for coronavirus. If you’re at higher risk, you should consider staying at home. Number two, understand your circumstances. Are you in a community where spread is going up or going down? Are you going to a place where you can social distance or not? Are you going to a place that’s outside or inside? Because we know outside is lower risk than inside for coronavirus.”

As we talk about Fourth of July and independence, it’s important to understand that if we all wear these, we will actually have more independence and more freedom because more places will be able to stay open. We’ll have less spread of the disease,”