Everyone has something to learn from Colorado’s tortuous journey to last week when, after months of curious resistance, Gov. Jared Polis created a statewide mask mandate.
It’s been exasperating for health officials and others who’ve long preached the benefits of masking up everyone in public to stem the spread of COVID-19, only to have Polis, as well as Aurora officials, push back against a mandate.
For months, Polis has offered a short list of excuses as to why, despite virtually begging people to wear masks in public, he would not invoke a mandate. No mechanism for enforcement, unlikely increase in usage, and local control were reasons that suddenly evaporated last week when Polis wisely changed his mind.
Locally, officials from Aurora and Tri-County Health pushed responsibility for a mandate back and forth for weeks, finally agreeing to what amounted to a stern request across the region.
Polis and Aurora did exactly what the Centers for Disease Control did early on in the pandemic by telling the public one thing just a few weeks ago and something completely different last week. Early in the year, as the pandemic made its way into the nation and the news in February, CDC officials foolishly recommended against wearing masks in public as a way to curb COVID-19. To this day, mask-mandate critics wield that mixed message like an effective club.
Polis was absolutely right last week when he noted that the science is unequivocal in regard to public mask mandates: They result in reduced virus transmission.
But that indication has been clear since May.
Predictably, those who conflate personal freedom and pandemic protection are foolishly flailing about supposed civil rights violations, deep state, government control and other reckless fiction.
Colorado State House Minority Leader Patrick Neville, R-Highlands Ranch, has threatened a civil rights lawsuit in an effort to stymie the mandate. His threats must be taken seriously only because of his notable political position, which he holds even though he is nothing more than an elected, tin-foil-hat nuisance.
Neville and others like him haplessly gained a soapbox for their inanity because of Polis’ previous reticence and excuses.
The mishandled mask quagmire should serve as a constant warning for what happens when the political discomfiture of the regularly politically discomfited affect critical, inevitable decisions.
Aurora officials are confronted with this now as they decide how to enforce the mask mandate in their city. Common sense dictates that every public place prominently post regulations and determine who will confront people who don’t comply. Common sense dictates that local police handle disputes that go beyond requests to comply or leave. Otherwise, it’s not a mandate, it’s not as beneficial to the public, and it emboldens those who cannot master their confusion or delusion.
Every credible health and science expert has made clear that it will be at least a year, and possibly three years, before the public effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are barely noticed — and that’s if a successful vaccine is implemented.
Colorado, and the world, have a long way to go in navigating this historic disaster. Going forward, Polis and other officials will be faced with making and implementing many more unpopular and aggravating decisions.
In the months ahead, it’s nearly certain that schools, businesses and social programs will suffer needed mandates that serve to keep people apart and the virus from overwhelming our health system.
Colorado must struggle for years now, not only with that certainty, but with the confounding foolishness of leaders and others who cannot or will not embrace solid science and good sense. Since nothing will give them peace nor help them see reason, elected leaders can only do the right thing — and do it first.