Pressure mounts to pass tougher rules on masks
Governors across the US are facing increasing pressure to pass statewide mask requirements and mount a more coherent pandemic response as coronavirus cases soar to record levels, daily deaths rise and hospitals face a crush of patients.
A growing chorus of local officials and health experts have warned that infections could continue to spiral out of control unless governors issue public health measures that apply to everyone. “We’ve been begging for a uniform response from the state,” said Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, a Democrat, of Jackson, Mississipiwhere hospital intensive care unit beds were nearing full capacity.
“It’s of great concern to us in Jackson, not only because we are the most populous city by a factor of three, but because we’re the capital city, and the capital of health care,” Lumumba said. “Other cities, as their numbers increase, it is likely our hospitals that will receive the increased burden.” As cases mount, Republican governors who have blocked orders mandating mask-wearing are watching from the sidelines as local officials impose strict measures to contain the spread.
The White House meanwhile is pressing the Food and Drug Administration to grant a second authorisation for the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19. Scientists have criticised the study the White House is relying on as “flawed.”
Decisive leadership
The calls for more decisive leadership reflect a growing urgency at the local level as more signs emerged last week that the US was losing its grip on the pandemic. The daily coronavirus death toll in the US increased after months of decline, with more than 4,200 reported nationally in the past seven days and experts warning that the trend would likely worsen.
Texas, Arizona and South Carolina have all seen their death toll rise by more than 100 percent in the past four weeks. Four more states - Mississippi, Tennessee, California and Louisiana - have seen at least a 20 per cent jump in that time span.
Trump had signalled recently he was more open to masks, as the pandemic spread to states with large numbers of Republican voters.