Some governors differing in mask mandate approaches
Some governors across the United States are taking widely diverging approaches to mask mandates, as federal officials, including President Joe Biden, warn that despite a drop in coronavirus cases, it is too soon to stop wearing masks.
On Thursday, Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama, a Republican, extended her state’s mask mandate for another month. Striking a different tone than those of her Republican peers in Mississippi and Texas, she said she wanted to keep what she called an effective policy to require masks for a bit longer, telling residents that masks would not be required in public beyond April 9, when other restrictions would also be lifted.
“There’s no question that wearing masks has been one of my greatest tools in combating the virus,” she said at a news conference.
In response to decisions this week to lift statewide mask mandates by Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, Biden said Wednesday that those moves were a “big mistake.”
“The last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that in the meantime, everything’s fine, take off your mask and forget it,” Biden told reporters at the White House. “It’s critical, critical, critical, critical that they follow the science.”
Even a fellow Republican, Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia, said it was a bad idea to ignore the advice of the experts.
“I don’t know really what the big rush to get rid of the mask is, because these masks have saved a lot, a lot of lives,” Justice said Thursday on CNN, adding that he, too, looks forward to the day when he doesn’t have to wear a mask.
The governor issued a mask mandate over the summer instructing people to wear masks indoors when social distancing was not possible. In November, he extended the mandate to wearing a mask at all times except when eating or drinking, and in recent months has become a Biden ally, at least on the stimulus package.
“If we don’t watch out, we can make some mistakes,” Justice said.
Biden has asked that for his first 100 days in office, which ends in April, Americans fight the spread of the virus in a variety of ways, including wearing a mask, getting vaccinated and continuing to follow health precautions. He and his top health advisers have emphasized the benefit of wearing masks and warned about the trajectory of cases nationwide and the detection of more cases of virus variants across the country.
At the White House Thursday, Jen Psaki, the press secretary, said the president’s comments about “Neanderthal thinking” was “a reflection of his frustration and exasperation” with the governors of Mississippi and Texas for undermining the message about the need to continue wearing masks.
“Our concern here is on the health, welfare and well-being — and survival, frankly — of people across the country and in states where the recommendations from leadership is not following health and medical guidelines,” she said. “So we have concerns about the impact on the population.”
In Mississippi, Reeves was unrepentant after Biden’s admonishment.
“Mississippians don’t need handlers,” he said. “As numbers drop, they can assess their choices and listen to experts. I guess I just think we should trust Americans, not insult them.”
Reeves did, however, encourage his citizens to “do the right thing” and wear a mask.
So did Abbott this week in Texas, where vaccinations considerably trail the national average, more than 7,000 new cases are being reported a day and, in recent weeks, ominous variants of the virus have appeared.
Kaitlyn Urenda-Culpepper, a Dallas resident whose mother died from COVID19 in July, said there was no choice now but to hope that the governor had made a wise decision.
“I don’t want him to be wrong,” she said. “But obviously, for the greater good of the people, I’m like, ‘Man, you better be right and not cost us tens of thousands more people.’ ”