Arizona Rep Rejects Calls for Mandatory Mask Wearing Amid Surge in Coronavirus Cases
As almost every state in the country is reporting an increase in coronavirus cases, some are suggesting there should be a mandate to wear masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
In an interview on Fox News on Monday, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) explained why he does not believe Americans should be required to wear masks.
Biggs insisted that health officials can “identify the people who are most vulnerable” and “take care of those folks” without implementing a mask-wearing mandate.
Instead, he said private businesses should be able to require mask-wearing, and then people can decide whether or not to patronize those businesses based on their mask-wearing policies.
“What would happen is, in a retail store, I would be able to go in. If they require a mask, I might say, ‘That’s the store I want to shop at cause I feel safer.’ If they don’t require a mask, I might say, ‘That’s where I want to go because I don’t want to be subject to masks.'”
To clarify his position, Biggs said, “If a store wants me to wear a mask, I’m going to wear a mask if I want to go into that store. That’s the point I’m trying to make. We should be able to that determination.”
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Additionally, Biggs blasted previous mask-wearing mandates, “A lot of theses mask orders were initiated without authority or process, and that’s important in a free society that you do things by process,” Biggs added.
Biggs said he has a “stack” of studies and noted that some medical professionals have said masks help prevent the spread of the virus, but others have raised questions about their effectiveness.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has voiced support for a mask-wearing mandate, which she said is “long overdue,” as IJR reported.
Arizona has reported a surge in new coronavirus cases, but Biggs argued that in the “whole context,” the numbers are not as bleak as they appear and said he is confident that the state can handle the new surge.
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