Thread by @DavidBegnaud

I went home to Lafayette, LA. to cover a story that’s deeply divided people there: masks & mandates. The Mayor won’t enforce @LouisianaGov’s state mandate & the state fire marshal won’t either, other than to educate when a complaint comes in. 1 family is at the center of it all.

Dr. @ashishkjha, Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, said, about to the Lafayette report: “mask mandates, asking people to wear masks is such a small step that we all can take, & we have mandates that that require us to do things all the time...” (1/14)

“... We're not allowed to drink and drive. We’re not allowed to smoke inside restaurants and bars and lots of other places. So we have a long tradition of putting in what a really modest restrictions we've got to do that with mask mandates...” (2/14)

“... It's a really critical part of getting beyond this pandemic. I think this is really about mayors and governors, in this case, a mayor stepping up and doing the right thing for his people...” (3/14)

“...& when a mayor refuses to do that & refuses to protect lives & well-being, that's really unfortunate. & I think that it's really critical. If we want to put this pandemic behind us, if we want to get our economy back, that we have massive mandates & we enforce them...” (4/14)

“... I think that's a critical part of political leadership everywhere. It’s very, very clear that if people are wearing masks, it dramatically lowers the amount of infection there is in the community...” (5/14)

“...It lowers people's risk of getting infected and lowers people's risk of infecting others. There really is no question about this. We're now at a point where this is sort of like, is the earth round? It is. We're not debating this...”(6/14)

“... This is this is pretty clear evidence at this point. I'm sympathetic to people who are still confused about this because there's so many people who, for whatever reasons, continue to spread misinformation...”(7/14)

“... And so I can understand why people get confused. And what I say to people is you should turn to the people you trust, doctors and nurses who you would trust in a life threatening situation to ask them what they think we should be doing...”(8/14)

“... And most doctors, most nurses are very, very clear on this. The evidence is clear. And so I think people should trust their health care professionals and public health experts and not listen to random people who are trying to sow misinformation...”(9/14)

“... with this new variant, the UK variant, that's spreading and so much more contagious, it is a good idea in high risk situations to be either wearing a really high quality mask or considering wearing a double mask...” (10/14)

“... if that causes some people to decide they're going to wear a mask at all. That doesn’t make sense to me. And again, my general take on this has been not to try to second guess how people are going to react, but instead just give them the data...” (11/14)

“...give them the facts and let them choose on their own. Even if you have your doubts about the evidence, the bottom line is that this is something that's not just about you, it's about your family...” (12/14)

“... It's about avoiding getting your family sick. It's about avoiding getting your friends and your community sick. And so I think we all have a personal responsibility to do the right thing. Just as I would not get behind the wheel of a car if I was intoxicated...” (13/14)

“...You should not be out and about not wearing a mask. It's just the right thing to do for people you love and your community. And that's why people should be doing.” (14/14)

Lafayette’s Mayor President was asked by @jimhummel to respond to critics who say it’s hypocritical to order people to say at home for severe weather but refuse to mandate them to wear a mask when science shows it helps reduce the spread of COVID.
katc.com/news/lafayette…

The mayor to the interviewer: “I do appreciate you Jim and all that you do my man.”

Okay. That’s nice. But let’s answer the question. He didn’t.