For the first time since the pandemic began almost four months ago, Donald Trump wore a mask in public. During a visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center over the weekend, Trump met wounded service members and health professionals treating coronavirus patients.
Trump has flip-flopped on wearing masks, which has been an essential and scientifically proven tool in slowing the spread of the virus. Over the past few months, he has endorsed wearing masks in indoor settings where social distancing isn’t possible, then mocked reporters, accusing them of wearing masks to be politically correct.
Other prominent Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, have broken with Trump’s stance, strongly encouraging citizens to wear masks as confirmed coronavirus case numbers have soared as the summer continues.
More than 20 states have now issued mask mandates in public as the U.S. has reported more than 1 million infections over the past month alone. There are over 3.2 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S., more than the population of Chicago.
The list of states with mask mandates includes California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
Texas and Ohio have yet to issue mask mandates, except in counties where the coronavirus case rate surpass government thresholds. Florida and Arizona, the two hardest-hit states, have similar mask mandates.
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At least 26 members of Mississippi’s legislature have tested positive for the coronavirus after weeks of working at the state Capitol. Face masks and social distancing had not been mandated in the Mississippi legislature.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and House Speaker Philip Gunn are among those who have tested positive and at least 10 others who work in the building have also tested positive.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who has tested negative, is encouraging others to get tested.
Georgia’s governor and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms are engaging in a very public battle over attempts to control the uptick on coronavirus infections in the state. On Friday, the state saw a record-breaking one-day spike in cases, with almost 4,500 new confirmed infections. That same day, Democratic Mayor Bottoms announced a rollback of measures to Phase 1 of reopening businesses in the city. In response, Republican Governor Brian Kemp dismissed the mayor’s rollback, insisting that her order is simply guidance and is “non-binding and legally unenforceable.”
The cities of Savannah, East Point and Athens, Kemp’s hometown, have announced similar mask directives.
California will release up to 8,000 prisoners this summer to stop the spread of the coronavirus that has infected over 5,800 inmates in the state’s prison system.
More than a third of the inmates and staff at the San Quentin State Prison in the San Francisco Bay Area have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Those who are eligible for release must not be in jail for domestic violence, other violent or sex-related crime and must test negative for the coronavirus before leaving prison.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is walking back a statement it made recently encouraging the reopening of schools amid the pandemic. In a new statement released on Friday, the AAP says while in-person school is beneficial for children, “Public health agencies must make recommendations based on evidence, not politics.”
Over two weeks ago, the AAP recommended that education leaders and policymakers “should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.” The Trump administration has used AAP’s position to pressure schools to open in the fall nationwide.
In an interview on CNN on Sunday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos pushed the administration’s message that schools should open, adding that local officials should make the final decision about reopening.
After confirming that there is no guidance from the federal level, she added,
“Every situation is going to look slightly different, And the key for education leaders — these are smart people who can figure things out. They can figure out what is going to be right for their specific situation. Because every school building is different. Every school population is different.”
