8 July 2020 — 0543 mdt
The case for mandatory masking-up
Montana is reopening not because the coronavirus pandemic is over — it isn’t; in fact, in some places it’s getting worse — but because we’ve learned how to reduce the risk of infection through social distancing, wearing face masks, and abjuring dangerous practices such as singing in the choir. If those and other mitigation measures are observed by everyone, and with iron discpline, businesses. schools, and activities such as sports, that were shut down can resume without igniting a wildfire of contagion.
But too many Montanans and visitors to our state scoff at these best practices and conduct themselves as though Mr. Covid is dead. They evidently consider wearing masks and practicing social distancing as discretionary activities, as personal choices, and not as public obligations, as duties required of citizens.
Examples of this attitude abound.
Late yesterday afternoon, I shopped at Costco and Walmart in Kalispell. At Costco, I counted four barefaced customers, two women and two men, all wearing a belligerent sneer of defiance. At Walmart, there were so many barefaced shoppers that I counted those wearing masks: eight out of more than 100.
There are similar reports from all corners of the state. Here’s Doug Odegaard on the situation in Missoula:
Missoulians can’t handle the mask recommendation as I just got back from errands. 20% compliance tops with non-mask distancing not helping either. I wish there did not need to be a requirement but it is for the good of all. #MaskUpMT
— Doug Odegaard (@dodegaard) July 8, 2020
Who, besides society in general, benefits from a mandate to wear masks? Business owners and managers. Event managers. And yes, as I Tweeted yesterday, members of the bareface brigade who obey laws with which they disagree.
#mtpol #maskupmt Recommended masking-up gives those who disagree with masks permission not to mask-up. It's akin to recommended paying of taxes. Mandated masking provides the mechanism to obtain compliance from those who scoff at masks but are law abiding citizens. Mandate masks.
— James Conner (@jrcflatheadmemo) July 7, 2020
Montana’s lack of a mask-up mandate does a disservice to business owners and mangers who want their customers to wear masks:
#mtpol #maskupmt Mandatory masking would backstop business owners and managers by providing them withe the authority they need to enforce masking-up. It's the kind of government regulation that enlightened business owners welcome.
— James Conner (@jrcflatheadmemo) July 7, 2020
Despite the logic of the arguments for mandating masks and social distancing, Gov. Bullock, at least for now, chooses to recommend rather than require masks. He may well realize that only a mandate will produce the needed level of compliance, but he knows that if he does not give voluntary compliance a chance, he’ll be excoriated for not giving Montanans and their guests the opportunity to do the right thing on their own volition. Politically, that makes sense. It also means accepting more Covid-19 cases as the price of politics.