NC’s mask mandate needs one more critical piece

In the three months since Gov. Roy Cooper announced a statewide COVID-19 stay-at-home order, N.C. Republicans have pushed to reopen businesses across our state. From restaurants to bars to breweries to gyms, lawmakers have issued press releases and passed bills trying to circumvent the governor’s orders. Said one such press release following one such bill: “Gov. Cooper should be looking for ways to get our citizens back to work.”

We agree, and we believe the governor has attempted to find a balance between public health and economic health. But if Republicans really have North Carolina’s employers and workers in mind - and not a COVID-19 power struggle with Cooper - they need to take real steps now to help those businesses and all of us.

The first step: Support the governor’s mask mandate.

On Wednesday, Cooper announced an order requiring facial coverings for all employees and customers of retail businesses and restaurants as well as workers in manufacturing, construction, meat processing and agriculture settings. Exceptions include people who are walking and exercising outside when not within six feet of others.

The mandate is an attempt to slow an alarming surge of COVID-19 in North Carolina, but there are questions surrounding the lifespan of the order. In April, N.C. Republicans passed a temporary waiver of a 1950s anti-KKK law that banned mask-wearing in public. That waiver runs out on Aug. 1.

The Republican-led House and Senate need to extend the waiver or amend the law, in case Cooper’s mask mandate extends past that date. “That’s an issue that’s on our radar that we expect to address before we leave tomorrow,” Berger spokesperson Pat Ryan told the Editorial Board on Wednesday. “We don’t want to be in an untenable position where the CDC recommends masks but wearing a mask is illegal.”

That’s good, but Republicans need to do more than clear a legal path for masks. They need to help the governor make his case for wearing them.

Public health officials, including in the Trump administration, believe that face coverings help slow the spread of the virus. Two studies this month show that masks work in slowing COVID-19 transmissions and could prevent a second wave.

But for masks to be most effective in North Carolina, they need a significant buy-in from the public. Cooper’s order goes part of the way, because even if enforcement is spotty, the urgency behind such a mandate will be enough to persuade many people to cover their noses and mouths. But that urgency also needs to come from N.C. Republicans, who like President Donald Trump have too often treated masks as unnecessary or a political issue.

That’s a mistake. For businesses to thrive, they need customers, and as we learned before stay-at-home restrictions were issued months ago, people will refrain from dining and shopping if they feel threatened by the virus. In North Carolina, that threat is rising. Our virus numbers continue to move in the wrong direction, and some states that began reopening in May - as North Carolina did - are experiencing a COVID-19 spread that could quickly overwhelm hospitalization capacity.

In one of those states, an “unacceptable” spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations prompted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to urge residents this week to voluntarily stay at home. Abbot said that “closing down Texas again will always be a last option,” but he did not rule out issuing restrictions if COVID-19 metrics continue to worsen.

No one, Democrat or Republican, wants the same to happen in North Carolina. The governor’s mask mandate could be a critical step toward heading off that possibility. Making the mandate a statewide order is a signal of how seriously we should take the order. If Republican leaders want what’s best for North Carolina businesses and workers, they need to send the same signal - and urgently.

This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 4:15 PM.