U.S. -- Ending of some state mask mandates indicates a shiftng political landscape

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Thu, 2022-02-10 09:56 — mike kraft

Abrupt end to mask mandates reflects a shifting political landscape As electoral warning signs flash for Democrats and the public yearns for normalcy, Democratic governors are making moves without waiting for the Biden administration to get there first. Washington Post

As the coronavirus pandemic enters its third year, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is acutely aware that his state’s residents are increasingly desperate for their old lives, worried about their children’s schooling and exasperated by masks and other restrictions.

“There’s no question, whether it was last year’s election, whether it was getting a sense of the pulse of the state, people are frustrated. They are fatigued,” Murphy, a Democrat who nearly lost his reelection bid last November, said in an interview. “There’s learning loss in our kids, mental health and stress among kids and adults. Folks are yearning for some sense of normalcy — and count me, by the way, among them.”

That’s the backdrop as Murphy, long one of the nation’s most aggressive governors on health restrictions, announced this week that he was lifting New Jersey’s school mask mandate — one of a slew of governors in his party to do so as polls suggest voters are weary of restrictions and last November’s elections highlight Democrats’ vulnerability on the pandemic.

State officials say the decisions are driven by data showing that the worst of the omicron surge has passed, but acknowledge they must also weigh a weary public’s tolerance for pandemic life. Even as the Biden administration continues to recommend mask requirements, many of the biggest states led by Democrats are abruptly taking a different tack.

California, Oregon, Delaware and Connecticut joined New Jersey in announcing a partial end to mask mandates Monday. The governors of Rhode Island and Massachusetts announced plans Wednesday to end school mask mandates, while the executives of New York and Illinois said they would scrap mask requirements for businesses but are still reviewing schools. Washington announced it would end an outdoor mask mandate and the indoor mask mandate was under review.

Several of these Democratic governors have stressed that their constituents need to live with the virus, echoing rhetoric that their Republican counterparts adopted earlier in the pandemic when they declined to take statewide measures to curb the delta and omicron surges. ...

This adds up to a pivotal moment in the politics of the pandemic. From the outset, Democrats urged public health restrictions while Republicans largely rejected them despite the science showing they would save lives. But now — with many Americans vaccinated, the public deeply impatient and the current surge fading — many Democrats are concluding that the time for aggressive statewide measures has passed and are unwilling to risk a further electoral backlash. ...

Support for masks policies has eroded, although it remains high. The same Monmouth poll found that 52 percent of Americans supported face mask and distancing guidelines in their state, down from a peak of 63 percent last September during the delta surge.

Still, some vulnerable or elderly Americans remain wary of dropping mask requirements, and covid deaths remain high in many places. The governors who are scrapping their state mask mandates are still allowing localities to keep them in place, signaling that conditions are improving without fully abandoning a key tool to curb transmission. ...

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