Thread by @ianmSC

Two weeks ago, Arizona, to overwhelming local criticism, removed all county level mask mandates and rolled back nearly all restrictions on businesses. Nevada and California didn’t, and yet their numbers are the exact same.

How many more times does this need to keep happening?

In response to seeing packed bars in Old Town Scottsdale, near Phoenix, the Arizona Democratic Party tagged Governor Doug Ducey, as he would obviously be responsible for the immediate surge in cases

https://twitter.com/azdemparty/status/1375668031444066309

The Mayor of Phoenix did some excellent gaslighting by saying that the “horrible surge” was “only curbed by masking”, ignoring, of course, that the surge in fall/winter was much worse even with masking. Echoing experts, she said it was “like spiking the ball on the 5-yard line”

https://twitter.com/mayorgallego/status/1375139011077935106

Proud Arizona State University Journalism professor praised the Mayor, saying she loves when politicians speak her language

https://twitter.com/paolaboivin/status/1375197198414012416

A few weeks earlier, the Editorial Board at the Arizona Republic said that lifting “mask mandates now would be a massive mistake.”

Hospital leaders across Arizona voiced “disapproval” of Ducey’s decision to end local mask mandates and business restrictions, saying they weren’t consulted.

https://twitter.com/tucsonsentinel/status/1376626038113984513

KOLD News reported that health researchers in Arizona were urging caution, saying that removing mask mandates could lead to a fourth wave

https://twitter.com/koldnews/status/1377778059911258114

The CEOs of multiple health systems in the state wrote an op-ed saying that mitigation measures work and Arizona needed to “stay the course”

While nowhere near the level of national attention that hit Texas after they removed their mask mandate, local politicians and health leaders in the state rushed to criticize removing mask mandates, because they “work.” Two weeks later, absolutely nothing's happened in Arizona.

Arizona’s followed the same curve as California and Nevada that haven't removed their mandates. It's an incredible feat of media incompetence and purposeful gaslighting that none of this is brought up when asking health leaders what their evidence is for claiming mandates work.

Currently, Arizona ranks 44th in the US in case rate over the past week…that is 678% lower than Michigan, which still has its mask mandate in place.

But none of this matters, because “health leaders” say it works, so it must work. Yay science!