{"id":270629,"date":"2020-10-02T01:57:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T05:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=270629"},"modified":"2020-10-02T01:57:34","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T05:57:34","slug":"the-mask-hypocrisy-how-covid-memos-contradict-the-white-houses-public-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/10\/02\/the-mask-hypocrisy-how-covid-memos-contradict-the-white-houses-public-face\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mask Hypocrisy: How COVID Memos Contradict the White House\u2019s Public Face"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Masks, a political flashpoint since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, are considered by public health officials to be a top safeguard against spreading the COVID-19 virus as the country awaits a vaccine. (File photo: Martin Sanchez\/Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the president and vice president forgo masks at rallies, the White House is quietly encouraging governors to implement mask mandates and, for some, enforce them with fines.<\/p>\n

In reports issued to governors on Sept. 20, the White House Coronavirus Task Force recommended statewide mask mandates in Iowa, Missouri and Oklahoma. The weekly memos, some of which have been made public by the Center for Public Integrity<\/a>, advocate mask usage for other states and have even encouraged doling out fines in Alaska, Idaho and, recently, Montana<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Masks, a political flashpoint since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, are considered by public health officials to be a top safeguard against spreading the COVID-19 virus as the country awaits a vaccine. But the president\u2019s own actions on masks<\/a> have wavered: He has called them \u201cpatriotic\u201d but often doesn\u2019t wear one himself and has contradicted the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director. During the presidential debate Tuesday, the president said masks were \u201cOK\u201d and then mocked Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden\u2019s mask-wearing habits. In the audience, some Trump family members and staffers were not wearing masks<\/a>, despite the rules set by the Cleveland Clinic, which hosted the debate.<\/p>\n

The mixed messages and ensuing confusion leave governors, and often state and local health officials, holding the bag of political consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, we have to turn the corner on this ridiculous separation of what we\u2019re being told is best practice and being guided by science and data, and what the actual practices are by the people who issue them,\u201d said Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.<\/p>\n

So far, 16<\/a> states<\/a> have yet to enact mask mandates for the general public \u2014 all of them are run by Republican governors. Three out of 4 Americans support enacting state laws to require mask-wearing in public at all times, according to an August NPR\/Ipsos poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To be sure, messaging and the science on masks have evolved: U.S. public health officials did not recommend mask-wearing until April. And the White House argues the president has been clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe recommends wearing a mask when you cannot socially distance,\u201d White House spokesperson Brian Morgenstern told KHN. \u201cHe has worn masks on numerous occasions himself when appropriate and regularly encourages others to do so, as well, when social distancing is not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pandemic task force sends weekly memos to states to share data and recommendations with leaders to help them make decisions, Morgenstern added. \u201cThey\u2019re free to share that information as they see fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtney Parella, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, said that the staffers check the temperature of every attendee before admission to rallies, provide masks and encourage attendees to wear them, and offer hand sanitizer.<\/p>\n

However, c<\/a>ampaign events<\/a> that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attend often feature crowds of maskless attendees<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 14, Pence stood before a crowd <\/a>of hundreds in Belgrade, Montana, to stump for the state\u2019s Republicans<\/a>, including Sen. Steve Daines, gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte and congressional candidate Matt Rosendale. Photos show that most who attended went without masks, including the vice president, despite a mask order in effect for the surrounding county.<\/p>\n

Montana calls on<\/a> everyone to wear masks at outdoor gatherings of 50 or more people in counties with at least four active cases when attendees don\u2019t stay 6 feet apart.<\/p>\n

Photos show people sitting and standing close together at the event in southwestern Montana. Pence signed hats<\/a> as people gathered shoulder to shoulder by the rails of a crowd divider.<\/p>\n

Six days later, the White House coronavirus reports recommended Montana officials issue fines for those who ignore mask mandates in places the disease is spreading fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would be helpful from the White House is consistency in their recommendations and their actions,\u201d said Matt Kelley, health officer for the Gallatin City-County Health Department. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to make a recommendation to state and local health officials to fine people. It\u2019s made more difficult to do that when we have the vice president coming here to a rally where no one, very few people, were wearing masks.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a press call last week, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said he didn\u2019t plan to follow the White House advice to punish those without masks. The Democrat, who is running for Senate, said it\u2019s better to encourage people to use masks than rely on fines.<\/p>\n

But Bullock said the point of the White House\u2019s request was clear. \u201cEven the federal government says we need to be taking wearing masks seriously,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just governors saying that we should do this and it\u2019s not just health experts saying we should be wearing masks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is among the Republican governors who have resisted a statewide masking order, despite the White House\u2019s recommendation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t need government to tell you to wear a dang mask,\u201d Parson said in July at a Missouri Cattlemen\u2019s Association steak fry, according to the Springfield News-Leader<\/a>. \u201cIf you want to wear a dang mask, wear a mask.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parson and his wife, Teresa, tested positive<\/a> for COVID-19 last Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Spokesperson Kelli Jones said last Thursday that the governor does not plan to enact a mask order, based on an assessment of current COVID data. She added state officials consider the White House reports \u201creally more of an FYI\u201d than a mandate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a bizarre document, truthfully,\u201d she said. \u201cWe read them and look at them \u2014 and make our own policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reports, which are sent to the governors, also leave local and state public health officials in the dark, said Freeman, of NACCHO.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the White House were truly serious about making these \u2014 what sounds like solid, scientific-backed, data-backed recommendations \u2014 if they were truly serious about it, tell the world, share them, be transparent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Instead, former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said, the White House has fueled the partisan breakdown on masks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the many failures of this administration is the politicization of masks, and that has really cost lives,\u201d Frieden said. \u201cThere is no reason masks should be partisan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile back in Montana, Gallatin County appears to be heading toward its third surge in cases since the pandemic began.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really have a lot of time to worry about inconsistency of messaging from the White House,\u201d health officer Kelley said.<\/p>\n

The county now has outbreaks in nursing homes and several confirmed cases in schools, he said, and the county\u2019s positivity rate is heading toward 10%.<\/p>\n

Subscribe<\/a> to KHN’s free Morning Briefing.<\/p>\n

KHN<\/a>\u00a0(Kaiser Health News) is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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