Joe Biden removes his protective face mask at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Brussels. (Photo by STEPHANIE LECOCQ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Many Democrats across the U.S. have said they wanted mask mandates reimplemented, while others have been more careful in going forward with doing so. After mandates were lifted across the country in May due to declining cases and increasing vaccination rates, many thought a return to normal was here.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) recommended his state to reverse course on the return to normalcy. In a press conference on Friday, Edwards urged people regardless of vaccination status to wear masks when indoors and when social distancing wasn’t possible. He said this was due to the spread of the Delta variant.
“We are issuing some updated, additional guidance today to the public,” he explained. “First of all, we’re recommending that all people vaccinated and unvaccinated, mask while indoors if six feet of physical distancing cannot be maintained.”
In light of Louisiana's troubling COVID-19 trends in cases and hospitalizations, @LaDeptHealth is issuing the following additional guidance to the public today. #lagov pic.twitter.com/gMgilInwDZ
— John Bel Edwards (@LouisianaGov) July 23, 2021
Edwards measure comes after Los Angeles county reimposed mask mandates everywhere indoors. The Democrat dominated county reimplemented masking due to a local rise in coronavirus cases.
In what could be an omen for other Democrat leaders, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced he would not enforce the mandate. He said it was impractical to enforce and counterproductive for persuading the 40 percent of his county that remained unvaccinated to get vaccinated.
“There has to be some perceived benefit to taking the vaccine. If I treat everybody the same, the people that resist are just gonna say ‘why bother, I’m still being forced to wear the mask,’” he stated. “It doesn’t make sense from a practical standpoint.”
First masks were not effective.
Then they were.
Then we needed to wear two.
Then only one.
Then vaccination meant no mask.
Now Democrats want a mask mandate again.
When will it stop?
— Mo Brooks – Endorsed By President Trump 🇺🇸 (@MoBrooks) July 23, 2021
Undeterred in Nevada, the chair of the Democrat Party released a statement urging the adoption of new mask mandates statewide. This followed a mandate for workers in Las Vegas to wear masks again, while tourists and customers were not required to do so.
As some Democrats pushed for new mandates, others have tiptoed around the issue. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) outright rejected calls from the city’s health committee chair to reimplement mask mandates.
In California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) has been faced with a recall over harsh lockdown measures, the governor has kept silent on if he would implement masks statewide again. New Jersey’s Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said while he didn’t want to have restrictions again, he would not rule anything out.
“For the time being, I hope we don’t have to do that. We are, I think, the only state in the nation that didn’t lurch over the past 16 months, meaning we went forward and came back,” he expressed. “I hope not to do that here. If we have to, we will.”
The federal government should respect individual liberty and end the mask mandate. pic.twitter.com/cZl75BwfKG
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) July 24, 2021
Democrat infighting on masks have not changed the CDC guidance for the whole country. According to the CDC, it is still safe for unvaccinated Americans to live life normally, meaning mask free and allowed close contact with others.
Source: One America News Network
