NYT: Many Americans have embraced masks. Tennesseans have not. – Tennessean
Tennesseans are largely failing to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus across large swaths of the state, despite a compelling scientific consensus that masks are among the best tools to combat the virus, according to a New York Times analysis of mask use nationwide.
The new analysis shows mask use is most common in Tennessee’s largest cities and rare in rural areas of the state. If you venture into public spaces in these areas, your odds of everyone you meet wearing a mask are exceedingly slim.
Gov. Bill Lee, who has encouraged mask use but not required it, said Thursday he couldn’t say why Tennesseans hadn’t embraced masks. Lee said a statewide mandate would be less effective than allowing county mayors to make their own decisions. Lee announced the state will launch a new pro-mask ad campaign on Friday.
“For mask wearing to be sustainable you’ve got to have buy-in,” Lee said. “A mandate is simply a mandate. It does not equate to mask wearing. What I believe equates to mask wearing is when folks trust other folks, who are advocating for that. And there is a great deal of trust in local leadership.”
The New York Times analysis is based on 250,000 interviews conducted for the newspaper by the global survey firm Dynata between July 2 and July 14. Interview subjects were questioned about their individual mask use, then their responses were used to estimate answers for a simple-yet-important question: If you met five random people in this area, what are the chances they would all be wearing masks?
NEW YORK TIMES: A detailed map of who is wearing a mask in the U.S.
In Tennessee, the numbers aren’t pretty.
Throughout the majority of the state, the chance that all five people would wear a mask is 20% or below – and sometimes as low as 4% – according to the Times analysis. The highest odds came from Nashville and Memphis, where mayors have required masks for weeks, but even in these cities there was only a 50% to 65% chance all five people would be masked.
The analysis illustrates the national divide over masks, which despite being touted by medical experts as one of the best defenses against the virus, has become the latest political battleground in an exceedingly partisan nation. Progressive leaders often promote masks as a civil responsibility for all while many detractors, many conservatives, have characterized the decision to wear a masks as a personal choice and mask mandates as government overreach.
“The science is crystal clear that wearing masks can blunt the spread of the virus,” said Dr. James Hildreth, an infectious disease expert who leads Meharry Medical College. “This message has been delivered many times by many messengers, and after weeks and months of debate, leaders across the country are now mandating the wearing of masks.”
Lee, a small-government Republican, has rejected pleas for a Tennessee mandate, describing such an order as an “ineffective, one-size-fits-all approach.” Instead, Lee used an executive order to grant county mayors the authority to issue mask requirements of their one. Since then, at least eight county mayors have used this new authority to issue some form of mask mandate.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said Tuesday county mayors had effectively created a “regional mask ordinance” around the city, but this patchwork response was a poor replacement for broader strategy.
“Having what is now effectively a regional mask ordinance, created county by county, is a major achievement and it will save lives,” Cooper said. “We need a concerted effort with our partners at every level of government and until then we will continue to struggle with this every county-for-its-self approach.”
Brett Kelman is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 615-259-8287 or at brett.kelman@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @brettkelman.
Published 5:35 PM EDT Jul 23, 2020
