Masks are now mandatory, so proclaims the governor. All persons age 9 and above must wear masks (or face coverings that cover the mouth and nose) in confined, indoor public places where social distancing cannot be observed.
Honestly, it’s about time. Gov. Jim Justice should have made masks mandatory before the holiday weekend. When asked why he didn’t, he said it was because he and his team wanted to see what the numbers looked like over the weekend. There’s a fault in his logic, however: COVID-19 takes about two weeks to incubate. About two weeks ago, The Dominion Post was reporting on the spike in Myrtle Beach-related and church-related coronavirus cases. Also about two weeks ago were cookouts and West Virginia Day celebrations. Since then, we’ve had local outbreaks connected to bars and gyms.
Two weeks from now, after a non-mask-mandated weekend of patriotic festivities, we’re likely to see yet another spike. Hopefully, Justice’s executive order hasn’t come too late.
More frustrating than Justice’s timing is the fact his mask mandate has no teeth; it’s all bark and no bite. While we agree with Justice that throwing people in prison for not wearing a mask is excessive and divisive (not to mention counter-productive considering prisons have been coronavirus hotspots), people have also proven that being “encouraged” to wear face coverings hasn’t been effective.
Dr. Clay Marsh shared some statistics on the matter: In states where people are only encouraged to wear masks, there has been an 85% increase in positive cases; in states with light orders, there has been a 70% increase in positive cases; and in states with strict mask orders, there has been an 11% decrease in positive cases.
With Justice’s order on Monday, we’ve probably gone from that 85% increase range down to the 70% increase range. If Justice would add some consequences to refusing to wear masks in mandated places, maybe we can get to that 11% decrease.
Here’s the thing: Encouraging people to wear masks hasn’t worked. Shaming people who won’t wear masks hasn’t worked. Trying to convince people that masks are the hot new accessory — totally customizable! — hasn’t worked. Reassuring people that masks are not a political statement hasn’t worked. Informing people about the serious health consequences of COVID-19 hasn’t worked. Reminding people they aren’t invincible — coronavirus has killed young, healthy people, too — hasn’t worked. Begging people to wear masks — if not to protect themselves, then to protect others — hasn’t worked.
We’re at a loss. If we can’t convince anti-maskers to care about their own health, then we certainly don’t know how to convince them to care about other people. So if we can’t reach people through their humanity, maybe West Virginia needs to try a new strategy: Reaching people through their wallets.
People who refuse to wear a mask in mandated places should be fined. Let’s start at $25 for the first offense and double it with each subsequent offense. The money collected from these fines should go to a special fund for coronavirus treatment, testing and other preventative measures, including the production of face shields for people medically unable to wear masks. Perhaps there should even be a separate fund for repeat offenders; that money will pay for the hospital bills of infected people and/or the funeral expenses for those COVID-19 has killed.
