Is Texas COVID-19 Spike A Result Of US Mask Apathy?

On Sunday, the prestigious U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University announced that the total number of COVID-19 cases recorded in the country to date stood at 2,539,544.

Over 125,000 of these individuals have died – a total number higher than in any other country around the world.

In recent days, the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) went on the record saying that the true figure of Americans infected nationwide may be as high as 20 million.

And, according to the head of the same CDC, a recent surge in coronavirus infections is being seen in those aged between 18 and 34, many in the southern and western states of the country.

Vice President Micheal Pence poses for his official portrait at The White House, in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, October 24, 2017. (Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen)

Only as recently as Friday though, Vice President Mike Pence was lauding the “truly remarkable progress in moving our nation forward” of the Trump administration, in particular with regards to new job creation and sales figures, but also in reference to the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, when Texas State Governor Greg Abbott talked of a “swift and very dangerous turn” in regards to the numbers of new coronavirus cases and that “over just the past few weeks, the daily number of cases have gone from an average of about 2,000, to more than 5,000 a day,” more and more residents of Texas started to look to the White House for further guidance.

Vice President Pence, to his credit responded by saying that “We are going to make sure that Texas, and your healthcare system in Texas, have the resources, have the supplies, have the personnel to meet this moment,” and even went so far as to urge locals in the Lone Star state to don masks “wherever its indicated”, claiming “we know from experience, it will slow the spread of the coronavirus”.

This recommendation by Pence is particularly meaningful at present with demonstrations against mask wearing now widespread across the United States, and making headlines worldwide, as Americans are subject to increasing calls on national and local media recommending against the practice.

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.