Montana’s Mask Mandate Has Been Lifted. Why Aren’t All Montanans Celebrating?
Here’s what might work better when it’s another state’s turn to mask down
On February 12, Montana became the third state to rescind its statewide mask directive. While it would be unreasonable to expect such an effort to be coordinated to perfection or to the satisfaction of everyone, I believe in this case there was significant opportunity for improvement. Here’s why:
Timing is everything. Gov. Greg Gianforte’s lifting of Montana’s mask mandate was not contingent on the state meeting a specific target in the number of cases, the reproductive number (also referred to as R₀), or a portion of individuals being vaccinated. Instead, it arrived on the heels of new legislation to protect businesses from litigation related to the novel coronavirus.
I personally believe such legislation makes sense, but it shouldn’t serve as the trigger to remove a public health guideline. Scientific data ought to be the driving force of such decisions, and it appears the leaders of my home state neglected to make that clear.
In the midst of a pandemic, applying a threshold for certain health guidelines serves to reassure the public that their safety comes before the political interests of their leaders. For…
