In the COVID-19 era, the act of wearing a mask in public has become another front in America’s bitter culture wars. But even amid the partisan divide, a growing number of states, including some led by Republican governors, are now forcing themselves to cover their faces.
More than half of states had issued mask requirements as of Friday afternoon, a move that public health experts say will help stop the spread of the coronavirus as cases increase in many regions.
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who had resisted a state-wide mask requirement, issued one Thursday, as did Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat.
But some political disputes show no sign of abating: Georgia’s governor sued Atlanta’s mayor for the city’s mask law on Thursday, a day after he banned local governments from requiring coatings.
Here’s a look at where state governments now demand masks, according to NBC News reports. We will update this page in the coming days.
