Cowboy State Daily
Wyoming Hospital Association Director Says Statewide Mask Mandate Important For Curbing COVID
A statewide mask mandate remains an important part of preventing the spread of coronavirus, although Gov. Mark Gordon declined to issue such an order, according to the director of the Wyoming Hospital Association.
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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily
A statewide mask mandate remains an important part of preventing the spread of coronavirus, although Gov. Mark Gordon declined to issue such an order, according to the director of the Wyoming Hospital Association.
In an email to Cowboy State Daily, WHA Director Eric Boley reiterated that the organization still feels masks are “super important to bending the curve and curbing the outbreak.”
“It is a simple thing that allows us to help ourselves and also shows that we want to help others,” Boley said to Cowboy State Daily. “There are many counties that will not impose a mask mandate on their own and we feel that a statewide mandate is the only way to ensure that there is a directive across the entire state.”
Earlier this month, the WHA, the Wyoming Medical Society and the state’s county health officers signed a letter to Gordon, asking him to implement a statewide mask mandate.
Gordon has hesitated to do so, and avoided doing just that in his recent health orders, which limited the number of people in crowds, both in and outside.
Since Gordon hasn’t passed a statewide order, many counties have decided to do it themselves, with counties like Teton, Laramie, Carbon Sublette passing mandates in recent weeks.
‘We realize enforcement may be difficult but in an attempt to help keep businesses open, to keep people safer and healthier and to ease the strain on our healthcare providers and facilities we would really like to see a statewide directive,” Boley said.
A call placed to the Wyoming Medical Society wasn’t answered, and the group’s spokeswoman was out of the office until Monday.
Teri Moore
November 21, 2020 at 7:58 pm
Top 4 catastrophes, to cause death, that have hit the United States, since 1776.
#1 Influenza, February 1918-April 1920, 675,000 deaths
#2 American Civil War, April 1861-April 1865, 660,000 deaths
#3 World War II, December 1941-September 1945, 416,800 deaths
#4 Coronavirus, January 2020- November 11, 2020, 261,790 deaths
We should surpass WW2 by early 2021
Thomas Jones
November 21, 2020 at 8:52 pm
Can Mr. Boley site a scientific study that verifies his claims? A peer reviewed Danish study states that there is no significant benefit of wearing a mask to stop the spread of covid, vs those that didnt wear a mask.
ray olson
November 22, 2020 at 7:58 am
Please take another look at the study- while the study questions the level of protection the mask provides the user, it states that without question wearing a mask keeps an infected person from spreading the disease.
Thomas Jones
November 23, 2020 at 5:06 pm
It “suggests” ray
“It is uncertain if this observed association arises through protection of uninfected wearers (protective effect), via reduced transmission from infected mask wearers (source control), or both.”
Im more concerned with the results of the actual scientific study. i.e. the level of protection as you state.
If masks work, why is California, that ardent mask state, shutting down businesses again?
ray olson
November 22, 2020 at 12:27 pm
Please reread the Danish study. It found the use of masks indeterminant in keeping the mask wearer safe- but stated that masks were unquestionably effective in reducing the chances that an infected person would spread the disease.
Thomas Jones
November 23, 2020 at 5:14 pm
“Unquestionably?”
I would like to post a link to that study so others can read it and draw their own conclusions, but that is not allowed.
Cindy Livingston
November 23, 2020 at 9:15 am
A mask mandate is only needed by people who will not be responsible without a mandate telling them to. We are better than that. We can do this without a mandate. We need to lead the other states instead of following them. Learn proper mask protocol and use it on your own accord. The reason that some people say and studies say that masks don’t work is that people wear them improperly. The mask needs to fit and your air exchange needs to go THROUGH the fabric, not around it. It is droplet protection so get in and out of where you are going quickly and get the mask off before the droplet moisture dries and releases any virus that it may contain. Bag the mask and sanitize your hands. Class dismissed!
Thomas Jones
November 23, 2020 at 5:12 pm
When you take your mask on and off, how many times do you touch your face?
When the water droplets go through the fabric, dont they atomize into smaller particles that tend to stay airborne longer?
Rebreathing pathogens you just coughed/sneezed/exhaled into a mask is a just a bad idea.
Class dismissed