Arizona Governor Won't Require Mask Use as Coronavirus Cases Spike

[TomCADem]

Source: MSN

Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has indicated he will not require mask use in the state amid surging coronavirus infections and hospitalizations.

Since Ducey's stay-at-home order expired last month, Arizona has reported sharp spikes in cases over the past two weeks. As of Saturday June 12, the total number of coronavirus cases in Arizona had exceeded 34,400, with 1,183 deaths caused by the novel disease. About 1,540 cases were added to the figure since Friday, when the state saw 1,654 new infections, the single-highest rise in one day.

During a press conference on Thursday, Ducey told reporters that while he encourages Arizonians to "wear masks when they can't socially distance" in public, he will not be following other states in enforcing face coverings by law.

Ducey encouraged citizens to "learn to live with" the virus and said it won't be "going away" anytime soon.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/arizona-governor-wont-require-mask-use-as-coronavirus-cases-spike/ar-BB15rEbK?li=BBnb7Kz

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I guess the Republican plan for responding to COVID-19 is to blame former President Obama, China, Mexico, protesters, antifa, etc., then call it a day.

[tanyev]

1. If they're not wearing masks, there's a good chance they won't need to learn to live with it.

[elleng]

3. Zacly

[former9thward]

9. Really?

The World Health Organization disagrees with you.

As described above, the wide use of masks by healthy people in the community setting is not supported by current evidence and carries uncertainties and critical risks.

https://www.scribd.com/document/455427057/WHO-masks-guidelines#from_embed

The link is to their advice on wearing masks. It is not necessary unless by medical health personnel in medical settings.

[torius]

11. The WHO has an updated document

On their site from this month. You are linking to an old one posted on Scribd, a file sharing site.
The new WHO document says:

Potential benefits/advantages
COVID-19
The likely advantages of the use of masks by healthy people in the general public include:
• reduced potential exposure risk from infected persons
before they develop symptoms;
• reduced potential stigmatization of individuals wearing masks to prevent infecting others (source control) or of people caring for COVID-19 patients in non-clinical settings 70)
• making people feel they can play a role in contributing to stopping spread of the virus;
-7-

• reminding people to be compliant with other measures (e.g., hand hygiene, not touching nose and mouth). However, this can also have the reverse effect (see below);
• potential social and economic benefits. Amidst the global shortage of surgical masks and PPE, encouraging the public to create their own fabric masks may promote individual enterprise and community integration. Moreover, the production of non-medical masks may offer a source of income for those able to manufacture masks within their communities. Fabric masks can also be a form of cultural expression, encouraging public acceptance of protection measures in general. The safe re-use of fabric masks will also reduce costs and waste and contribute to sustainability.

Link [link:https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1279750/retrieve|
Not like Gov. Douchey would listen to the WHO, but Trump’s CDC and coronavirus task force advise masks as well though the head of it, Pence, doesn’t follow the advice. The CDC has been explicit in recommending masks.

[former9thward]

22. This comes directly from the WHO website as of June 14,2020.

However, there is currently no evidence that wearing a mask (whether medical or other types) by healthy persons in the wider community setting, including universal community masking, can prevent them from infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331693/WHO-2019-nCov-IPC_Masks-2020.3-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

The document you quote is really nothing about actual health effects. The first point is filled with weasel words such as "likely advantages" and "reduced potential". Nothing scientific. The rest of the points are nothing to do with health. They are about making other people feel good or getting society to conform with other measures that might actually make a difference.

[NickB79]

23. WHO reverses position on face masks as coronavirus cases climb

https://nypost.com/2020/06/06/who-reverses-position-on-face-masks-as-coronavirus-cases-climb/

The World Health Organization is now advising everyone to wear face masks in public when they can’t practice social distancing — an about-face from its earlier guidance on stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the shift Friday, citing new evidence that showed face masks worn by healthy people could be “a barrier for potentially infectious droplets,” the BBC reported.

Looks like they're slow to update their website.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

24. Yeah, much of life's decisions are based on probability.

Last edited Sun Jun 14, 2020, 10:03 AM - Edit history (1)

If you demand certainty for everything, then you must be omniscient.

And even then, there's quantum physics that shows a fundamental probabilistic nature of the Universe.

[yardwork]

26. That's months out of date.

[former9thward]

27. It was on the WHO website yesterday June 14, 2020.

[yardwork]

28. Yeah, well, it's totally out of date.

[former9thward]

31. Take it up with the WHO

As an anonymous poster...

[yardwork]

33. There's a long line.

[we can do it]

29. Dear gawd that was in March, it's been updated.

[former9thward]

32. Not as of yesterday.

I posted THEIR link to THEIR website. You posted nothing..

[elleng]

2. 'it won't be "going away" anytime soon,'

thanks to people like you, 'governor.'

[QED]

4. Ducey loves IQ45

I don't know who is worse - DeSantis or Ducey - in their love love love for him.

[rocktivity]

5. Sounds like Trump has his knee on Ducey's neck.

And the way to make the virus go away is to engage in statewide testing, contact tracing, and proper quarantining of the infected.


rocktivity

[CountAllVotes]

6. Stupid is as stupid does

Bring it on awholes! Bring it on!

Till death do us part!

Indeed!

[dutch777]

7. It floors me that masks are not just the law of the land whenever out and about in public

I realize it does not protect me, it protects you, but if we all protected each other?....what a concept. And its a simple show of respect which I think is right and decent. I am amazed how many of us don't get that too. Sad!

[soothsayer]

8. Well it sure won't go away if we don't try to contain it

What is so hard about wearing masks and social distancing?

Has no one noticed how New York has driven it down?

[Rhiannon12866]

15. Here in New York, only groceries and gas stations/convenience stores have been open

And every store that I've seen requires a mask to enter the store - and many limit the number of shoppers allowed inside at one time to maintain proper distancing.

[Kali]

10. as of Saturday June 12?

today is Saturday June 13.

[Cha]

12. Stupid Murderous FUCK.. it doesn't matter who they Try to "blame"..

It's their fucking fault.

Our Gov & Mayor & businesses Do Requite Masks and we have 0 deaths from CV on the Island anyway.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. Well, of course not.

I'm inclined to think it's not such a bad idea to let those who don't want to wear masks not to wear them. Let them get the virus and die.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

14. Republicans see this as an opportunity to thin the herd of.....

anyone that can't work a 60-hour work week with 2-hr. commute each way, those who are not white, anyone with existing health problems and anyone collecting government benefits.

They're too blind and stupid to see that includes a large percentage of their own constituency.......

Business interests are all they care about, more so than their own families.

[Rebl2]

18. That's

how I see it too.

[beachbumbob]

16. COVID-19 cases at this moment over running Az hospitials and in another week the situation

will be out of control. Our hope is for the AZ voters to remember on Nov 3rd how GOP, Ducey and Trump failed to protect them. The outcome will be brutal for them all in a state that is quickly turning BLUE

[Rebl2]

17. Now he is

just trying to kill his citizens-really nice of him.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

19. Learn to live with the virus?

Wearing a mask is an important way to LIVE through it!

[Warpy]

20. Yeah, get that viral load as high as possible, kill those peasants!

Ducey is going to be singing a far different tune when he gets it.

Even the mild case of presumptive I had was awful.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

21. Lots of people are hospitalized!

https://you.23andme.com/covid19/

Of all their respondents who tested positive, 23% were hospitalized and 7% went to an ICU!

The percentages are higher among people who said they had underlying health problems, available from a pull-down menu.

I wondered if it was really representative of the general population, but then found similar stats (a few days ago) from around the country such as data from Wisconsin's health department.

If people only watch Fox News, they're going to just hear about the smaller percentages of deaths and not the other issues. (Which can include stuff like permanent organ damage.)

Edit: Among the people with NONE of the risk factors, the hospitalization rate was 10%. That's still a significant percentage!

[kimbutgar]

25. My mother in law who lives in Sun City West Az wears her masks whenever she leaves her home

And said she sees most of the elderly people wearing masks at the grocery stores. but her right winger daughter doesn’t wear one and thinks corona virus is a hoax because she doesn’t know anybody who has it or died. I hope she social distances when she sees her Mother. We were supposed to visit her this month but put it off for her safety. I sent my Mother in law some masks I made and she asked me to send her some more. So today I’m working on them!

I live in San Francisco And everyone wears a mask it’s mandatory. We went to a store yesterday to find a new puzzle at an outdoor shopping center, I saw two guys without a mask and made sure I kept 6 feet from them. Other people stepped away from them also.

[hunter]

30. It's not a spike if it doesn't go down

This is more like a huge tsunami. The water keeps getting higher and higher and higher.

The water is not over the breakwater yet.