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We have run into BIG problems because people don't come close to following recommendations if they're left to their own devices. Sometimes you need a little mor

We have run into BIG problems because people don't come close to following recommendations if they're left to their own devices. Sometimes you need a little more of a 'nudge' to get people to do the right thing. “Despite North Dakota’s remarkable efforts at testing and case finding, these measures are no longer enough, and we are now in desperate need of implementing stronger measures in order to save lives and preserve our health care workforce and capacity,” said Dr. Paul Carson, an infectious disease specialist, professor of public health at North Dakota State University and physician advisor to the state’s COVID-19 response. “We have a growing body of good evidence that masking, especially when paired with other mitigation strategies, can substantially reduce the spread of the virus. I am very grateful that the Governor has taken the bold measure to implement an enforced mask mandate across the state, and am hopeful this will help to flatten the curve.” https://www.governor.nd.gov/news/burgum-announces-new-requirements-businesses-gatherings-and-masks-delays-winter-activities https://www.governor.nd.gov/news/burgum-announces-new-requir... More and more conservative states are finding that if they don't make masks mandatory all that winds up happening is the ICUs fill up, healthcare workers start getting sick, and things get real scary real quick (e.g. Arizona changed their tune about masks REAL quick when Phoenix ICUs started hitting 90% capacity). I hate the government telling me what to do as much as the next person, but there are a lot of people out there who just don't grasp the concept of 'just because you can, doesn't mean you should.' I don't care if you kiss your wife or don't kiss your wife. I do care if you stand 6 inches behind me coughing with no mask in the grocery store, and if you do that I would very much like you to be thrown out by force if necessary, because you're putting my life and my family's life at risk because of nothing other than some bizarre paranoia about how wearing masks makes you less of a man (not that I think you personally would do that, but I had that happen to me pre-mask-regulations during COVID in an Arizona grocery store and it really pissed me off. A sick-looking guy with no mask on hacking up a lung in front of the deli counter at Safeway isn't freedom, it's stupidity. Stuff like that just happens in the absence of mandatory restrictions, and it puts everyone's life at risk for zero reason. I wish my fellow Americans weren't that stupid, but unfortunately enough of them are.

zepto 6y ago
Weirdly, US mask wearing compliance has greatly exceeded that of the UK and is not that dissimilar to EU countries on average. As for legal requirements. My guess is that if Trump had said - “I’m not going to let those democrats order you around. I’m wearing a mask because Americans know what’s right without needing to be told what to do.” There might be even more compliance.
- phobosanomaly 6y ago
  Unfortunately mask compliance on this side of the pond has largely been a result of government intervention: "As rapidly growing case counts strained health care systems across the South and Southwest this summer, more Republican leaders ordered citizens to wear masks to help slow the spread of the virus. In July, President Donald Trump wore a mask in public for the first time and urged Americans to do the same, marking a change in tone from earlier in the pandemic." https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/27/more-americans-say-they-are-regularly-wearing-masks-in-stores-and-other-businesses/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/27/more-americ... "A tidal wave of new mask requirements has been issued in the last few days, amid surging cases in many regions, including more than 75,000 new coronavirus cases across the country on Thursday, the most in a single day. Face coverings will be required at stores like Walmart, Target and CVS, and in a growing number of Republican-led states where governors once resisted such mandates." "More than half the states have issued statewide mask requirements, including Arkansas, where Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, announced a face covering requirement on Thursday, after previously taking a more hands-off approach. Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado, a Democrat, also issued a mask order on Thursday, after questioning whether such a mandate would be enforceable." "But there remains firm resistance in many circles, including from some Republican leaders who view mask requirements as a threat to personal liberty." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/us/coronavirus-masks.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/us/coronavirus-masks.html Unfortunately (I've been using that word a lot lately), Trump endorsing masks would have conflicted with his somewhat perplexing political strategy of gaslighting his base into thinking the virus wasn't anything to take seriously. 'Speaking on Capitol Hill on 10 March, Mr Trump said: "Just stay calm. It will go away."' 'Nine days later, after the White House declared the pandemic a national emergency, the president told Woodward: "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."' https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54172311 https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54172311 And, of course, then he got it, and even with the best care in the country, and cutting edge therapies not available to normal people still had a hell of a time. If he had done a photo-op standing in front of a pallet of N95s in NYC during the worst of it there, and pumped federal cash into making sure the country was up to its ass in PPE, this election would have been a cakewalk for him. He would have looked heroic and decisive. But, he didn't. For some reason, he took a different approach. I'm not really sure why, but 2020 is just a year of head-scratchers.

zepto 6y ago

Weirdly, US mask wearing compliance has greatly exceeded that of the UK and is not that dissimilar to EU countries on average. As for legal requirements. My guess is that if Trump had said - “I’m not going to let those democrats order you around. I’m wearing a mask because Americans know what’s right without needing to be told what to do.” There might be even more compliance.

phobosanomaly 6y ago
Unfortunately mask compliance on this side of the pond has largely been a result of government intervention: "As rapidly growing case counts strained health care systems across the South and Southwest this summer, more Republican leaders ordered citizens to wear masks to help slow the spread of the virus. In July, President Donald Trump wore a mask in public for the first time and urged Americans to do the same, marking a change in tone from earlier in the pandemic." https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/27/more-americans-say-they-are-regularly-wearing-masks-in-stores-and-other-businesses/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/27/more-americ... "A tidal wave of new mask requirements has been issued in the last few days, amid surging cases in many regions, including more than 75,000 new coronavirus cases across the country on Thursday, the most in a single day. Face coverings will be required at stores like Walmart, Target and CVS, and in a growing number of Republican-led states where governors once resisted such mandates." "More than half the states have issued statewide mask requirements, including Arkansas, where Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, announced a face covering requirement on Thursday, after previously taking a more hands-off approach. Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado, a Democrat, also issued a mask order on Thursday, after questioning whether such a mandate would be enforceable." "But there remains firm resistance in many circles, including from some Republican leaders who view mask requirements as a threat to personal liberty." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/us/coronavirus-masks.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/16/us/coronavirus-masks.html Unfortunately (I've been using that word a lot lately), Trump endorsing masks would have conflicted with his somewhat perplexing political strategy of gaslighting his base into thinking the virus wasn't anything to take seriously. 'Speaking on Capitol Hill on 10 March, Mr Trump said: "Just stay calm. It will go away."' 'Nine days later, after the White House declared the pandemic a national emergency, the president told Woodward: "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."' https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54172311 https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54172311 And, of course, then he got it, and even with the best care in the country, and cutting edge therapies not available to normal people still had a hell of a time. If he had done a photo-op standing in front of a pallet of N95s in NYC during the worst of it there, and pumped federal cash into making sure the country was up to its ass in PPE, this election would have been a cakewalk for him. He would have looked heroic and decisive. But, he didn't. For some reason, he took a different approach. I'm not really sure why, but 2020 is just a year of head-scratchers.