Why Mississippi's governor revoked a statewide mask mandate

Source: The Hill | October 6, 2020 | Reid Wilson

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) last week became the first governor in America to rescind a statewide mask mandate, almost two months after imposing it as coronavirus cases rose over the summer.

The decision is a risky one, but one Reeves said is justified by data. The number of people being treated in Mississippi hospitals is down to its lowest level since May. The number of daily confirmed cases has fallen to about half the August peak. And he said the state has plenty of hospital beds available to handle a potential fall surge.

“By all accounts, we have made tremendous progress in our state,” Reeves said in an interview with The Hill.

Reeves was among the Republican governors who initially resisted issuing statewide mask mandates. While some of his GOP colleagues refused to issue orders, and others went so far as to block local governments from imposing their own requirements, Reeves opted for a different approach: He began requiring masks only in counties where case counts were rising quickly.

That decision, he argued, helped build credibility in the places where he needed his constituents to pay attention to the virus.

“I really believe that if we had issued a statewide mask mandate at that time, the people down in South Mississippi, in Harrison County, would have said, ‘Well, he’s just doing that for the people up in DeSoto County,’ ” Reeves said. “And the ones up in North Mississippi, in DeSoto County, would have said, ‘Well, he’s just doing that because things must be really bad in Harrison County.’ I believe we would have gotten less participation from Mississippians in putting on the masks.”

“I will tell you that I continue to strongly suggest to my fellow Mississippians, particularly those that are in the more vulnerable categories, to please continue to wear a mask in public,” Reeves added. “What you’ll see is that we’ll continue to have great participation by Mississippians and we’ll continue to slow the spread and flatten the curve.”

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