Dunleavy's refusal to order masks contributes to explosive growth in COVID-19 cases

The Republican governor of North Dakota, the 35th governor to issue a statewide mask mandate, has finally realized that his state is under siege from COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy remains in a state of denial.

Dunleavy, unwilling to cross his anti-government fanbase, has refused to issue any such order, clinging to a handful of flimsy suggestions that he has repeated dozens of times since early summer.

Dunleavy’s inaction is a big contributing factor to the out-of-control growth in COVID-19 cases in Alaska.

Alaskans suffering from COVID-19 are overwhelming Alaska hospitals and the institutions are either in crisis or about to reach that stage. Health care workers are falling ill in growing numbers, leading to staff shortages and untenable working conditions for those who are trying to remain healthy.

In his public statements, Dunleavy clings to the half-truth that local governments have the power to require masks in indoor settings. He has been Gov. Noncommittal since the recall threat emerged more than a year ago.

Some local governments, such as the Municipality of Anchorage, have that power, but many smaller communities and many boroughs do not.

This has been clear for months. It is telling that neither former Attorney General Kevin Clarkson or acting Attorney General Ed Sniffen have put their names on a document backing up Dunleavy’s false statements that any local government can issue a mask mandate.

Rep. Don Young, who now has COVID-19, said during his campaign that he wore a mask in situations where he was required to wear a mask.

Young is the kind of Alaskan who has proved to be impervious to suggestions that wearing a mask is a good idea.

Dunleavy’s refusal to follow 35 other states with a mask mandate sends a strong signal to his supporters that wearing a mask is optional and that he isn’t serious. His suggestions are ignored by Dunleavy supporters who enjoy whining about wearing masks.

I wrote the text that follows on July 29. Conditions across the state with COVID-19 are much worse today.

The smart thing to do is for Gov. Mike Dunleavy to issue a statewide mask mandate.

It would send a strong signal to Alaskans about the immediate danger of the rapidly advancing COVID-19 outbreak. It would be a pro-business move, as it would help build confidence among Alaskans that some basic safety steps are being taken. It’s about protecting public health.

But Dunleavy plays to the “We don’t need no stinking masks” element of his constituency.

In doing so, he is blowing off the recommendations of the White House, which produced this report, saying the state should “mandate wearing of face masks in all indoor settings outside the home,” especially in seafood processing centers and Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, Mat-Su, Valdez, Cordova and the Yukon-Koyukuk region.

Dunleavy wants to rely on individual Alaskans to decide if they want to wear a mask or not.

Keeping it optional sends a strong signal to Alaskans that it’s really not that important and that the danger of going maskless in crowded conditions is low. Dunleavy says he wants everyone to wear a mask, as long as they want to.

Individual choice is a fine thing, but it doesn’t always work. If we wanted to give drivers more freedom, we could make stopping at red lights voluntary, giving everyone a choice. And we could make paying taxes an option for those who feel so inclined.

Dunleavy’s main claim is that “hundreds of communities have never seen the virus,” so a statewide mandate “doesn’t make sense.” If communities want to institute a mask mandate, that’s up to them.

This is Dunleavy’s patented political distancing in action.

“You do a statewide mask mandate and you get a call from small Community X saying, ‘We don’t have a police force and our people aren’t wearing masks. And by the way we’ve never had a case. Why are we wearing a mask?”

Small community X is never going to make that call. He recently cited Hyder in Southeast Alaska as an example of small community X.

"We have no indication there’s been any outbreak in Hyder,” Dunleavy said at his July 22 COVID-19 show. “To issue a statewide mandate for the folks in Hyder, for everyone across the state, it doesn’t make, it doesn’t make sense from a medical perspective.”

Hyder, with fewer than 100 residents, does not have a local government, so it couldn’t enact a mask mandate if it wanted one.

But the state could adopt a statewide mask mandate that included exceptions for places like Hyder, overcoming all of the imaginary obstacles Dunleavy claims as insurmountable.

The easiest thing to do is to adopt a statewide mandate and allow local communities—including those like Hyder with no local government—to opt out of it if they desire to do so. This isn’t hard.

This approach would also be less wasteful, as many communities don’t have health powers and while Attorney General Kevin Clarkson may claim that they can enact local mandates if they desire to do so, Alaska towns can do away with the bureaucratic guessing game if the governor enacted a sensible policy.

A statewide mask mandate is one way to get the word out that the current approach to the COVID-19 pandemic is not working.

The serious lag time between someone getting infected with COVID-19 and suffering serious symptoms is such that the current rising daily numbers are simply a precursor for much bigger problems in August and September.

The health care capacity of Alaska is limited and can easily be overwhelmed. A state mandate with logical exceptions makes perfect sense.