With Governor Asa Hutchinson’s Arkansas state mask mandate effective Monday, more than half of the United States now has state mask mandates to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, an analysis of state policies shows. from CNBC.
Twenty-eight states have statewide orders that require facial coatings in public. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization recommend masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Governors of states like Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado and Montana announced state mandates last week. Colorado Governor Jared Polis said in announcing the mandate that there was evidence showing that a mandate led to more people covering their faces, despite being difficult to carry out.
“This is a responsible, bipartisan and common sense step,” Polis said during a press conference at the Boettcher Mansion in Jefferson County, Colorado on Thursday. “We have a choice in Colorado: more use of masks and more attention to social distancing or more damage to our economy and loss of life.”
Although mandates in all states have similar requirements, they vary according to exemptions. In Texas, there is no requirement for religious services, exercise, or voting. Children under the age of 10 and people with a medical condition that prevents the use of a face covering are also exempt from the order.
State mandates generally supersede local ordinances or specific business requirements for facial coatings. Skins are also required at a growing number of stores, including Walmart and Kroger.
In addition to state mandates, some states and cities have placed certain areas under masking orders. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, while not announcing a state mandate, has put specific counties under a mandate. Other places, like Oklahoma City, have mandated themselves without state requirements.
In Georgia, where there is no state mandate, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced a mask order for the city. Bottoms’ action prompted Governor Brian Kemp to file a lawsuit against her and members of the Atlanta city council over the requirement.
The masks have been politicized, several public officials from both parties said since the Covid-19 outbreak began in March, as what was once seen as a public health precaution has become a symbol of civil liberties. In May, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum called divergent views on masks in the pandemic a “meaningless dividing line.”
“I would really love to see in North Dakota that we could overlook this by what other parts of the nation are going through where they are exchanging a division, whether ideological or political or something like that, around masks versus no mask,” Burgum he said in May. “This is a meaningless dividing line, I would say, and I would ask people to try to increase their empathy and understanding.”
The CDC and the WHO recommend face liners, in addition to other measures such as social distancing, and the CDC have seen a growing acceptance of the recommendations for covering the face. A CDC online survey found that about three-fourths of Americans say they adopted mask recommendations.
CDC Director Robert Redfield said last week that the United States could control the pandemic in a month or two if everyone wore a mask.
“Now is the time,” Redfield said during an interview with Dr. Howard Bauchner of the Journal of the American Medical Association. “I think if we could get everyone to wear a mask right now, I think in four, six, or eight weeks we could control this epidemic.”
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