Governor Cox says that we will won’t be wearing masks by July Fourth, What is he thinking?
https://twitter.com/spencerjcox/status/1364340906388717571
Utah Governor Spencer Cox(R) says that Americans will be celebrating the Fourth of July Maskless, what is he thinking .
The Governor recently said on Twitter "Almost all the science (including concerns about variants) is overwhelmingly positive, With vaccine numbers soaring, I truly believe that we will be celebrating maskless in large groups by the 4th (if not sooner).”
Yet to understand this we must look at Utah’s for the COVID-19 pandemic thinking by Utah bureaucrats. They have set these “tiers” of public health emergency. The lowest tier does not require masks but the upper two do. I live in a tier one county. The highest tier, yet you still see people not wearing masks and protesting against retail workers to wear a mask as well.
Meanwhile in California a business can report you to the police for not wearing a mask, and the perpetrator pays a 100 dollar fine for the first offense.
The Governors Words
As stated above the Governor believes that Americans will be having maskless 4th of July gatherings. He said as well that he is “Really baffled by the pessimism in Washington”.
They have good reasons to be pessimistic. State are not doing anything about the COVID-19 pandemic. Not limiting social gatherings, no mask mandates, no punishment for people not wearing masks in public places, and much more.
Trump, and Congress
The Federal government is very limited in what they can do with the pandemic. They are mainly limited by the filibuster and the evenly divided Senate. And Senator Joe Manchin (D, WVa) is not helping with pandemic response as well. He is very much a centrist, and often does not vote with the Democratic Party as a whole. In fact he has recently derailed a nomination of Biden’s White House Budget office nominee.
With Trump’s role in this it get a little murky. He has often denied science on several occasions. An example of this is when he said “And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning.” He suggested to the American people that you should inject disinfectant to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Trumps has formed a cult of personality around himself, his most diehard supporters will almost believe anything he says. An example of this is when he claimed fraud in the November election. And according to a Quinnipiac poll 77% of Republican believe that Biden won by election fraud. Their was no proof of any election fraud. If 77% of Republican believe the election was fraudulent imagine the amount that believe that bleach will stop COVID-19. Trump has done considerable damage to Americas trust in science.
Cox’s belief
As stated before Governor Cox believes that we will be celebrating the 4th of July maskless. He has not brought any consideration regarding herd immunity which will be needed to be maskless.
This is not in accordance to Dr. Anthony Fauci who says that it is quite possible that we will continue to wear masks till 2022. Governor Cox is not a qualified physician and he has yet to show any data proving that we will be maskless at the 4th of July.
As well as that Governor Cox is not trusting science when it comes to the COVID-19 Pandemic he has yet to implement a blanket mask mandate, he has not listened to the data about reopening schools. What else does he not believe in.
As well as that Republican in general do not believe in a centralized pandemic response which has worked very well in different country's Australia is a good example.
In all the Utah’s pandemic response has been a disaster for people and businesses. As well as that their is little the Federal Government can do to stop spread without bipartisan cooperation which is unlikely at the moment. Governor Cox longing for this pandemic to be over is a common one, yet a misinformed one. As a leader he should not be giving people hope where their is no hope.
Sources
Cox, John Woodrow. “Australia Almost Eliminated the Coronavirus by Putting Faith in Science.” Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/australia-coronavirus-cases-melbourne-lockdown/2020/11/05/96c198b2-1cb7-11eb-ad53-4c1fda49907d_story.htm.
Curtis, Larry. “Gov. Cox Predicts Gatherings without Masks by July 4, Contrary to Fauci Predictions.” KUTV [Utah, Salt Lake City], 24 Feb. 2021, kutv.com/news/local/gov-cox-predicts-gatherings-without-masks-by-july-4-contrary-to-fauci-predictions.
Thebault, Reis. “When Will We Return to Normal? The Question Looms as Fauci Says Mask-Wearing May Continue in 2022.” Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/02/21/covid-fauci-masks-2022.