Thanks for wearing a face mask, Gov. McMaster — now make everyone in SC do it, too

“A journey of a thousand miles,” states the Chinese proverb, “begins with one step.”

South Carolinians can only hope that Gov. Henry McMaster made that one small step on the path toward overdue enlightenment with his decision to wear a face mask during a recent briefing on South Carolina’s ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

We can only hope it represents the first halting forward step in McMaster’s painfully slow journey toward realizing the need to issue a statewide order requiring South Carolinians to wear face masks.

We can only hope that it’s the first small step toward McMaster finally embracing the reality that he must decisively change course to bring down our state’s alarming COVID-19 rates.

Lead, governor

If the three options of any public official are to “lead, follow or get out of the way,” it’s unfortunate that McMaster continues to make an art of seeking every opportunity to get out of the way of taking the step of requiring face masks.

It’s unfortunate that McMaster has chosen not to lead by following the example set by others in our state — including Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin — who have shown the political courage necessary to demand their residents wear face masks.

It’s not enough anymore

Yes, we’re sure that McMaster is genuinely concerned about the huge numbers of young people who are obviously ignoring pleas to wear face masks — which in turn has increased the number of COVID-19 cases among South Carolinians who are 25 or younger.

But that’s not enough anymore.

It’s time for McMaster to make the journey from wringing his hands about young South Carolinians to making them start covering their faces.

Yes, we’re sure that McMaster genuinely does believe it would be difficult to enforce a statewide order for South Carolinians to wear face masks — even though such uncertainty hasn’t gripped communities like Columbia, Charleston, Spartanburg and Greenville or prevented them from requiring face masks in public settings.

But that’s not enough anymore.

It’s time for the governor to make the journey from casually dismissing the power of South Carolina cities to enforce face mask requirements to actually using his considerable power to increase the chances of enforcement — by demanding all South Carolinians, not just some, wear masks.

Take the step, governor

Every day now, a thousand more South Carolinians are discovering that they, too, have contracted COVID-19,

And some day soon, we will reach the stark milestone of having a thousand South Carolinians lose their lives to this ongoing plague.

The journey to stopping the prospect of a thousand more deaths can begin by implementing a face-mask requirement across our state.

It’s time to take that step, Gov. McMaster.

It’s time to put another foot forward on the journey toward a wiser approach to fighting COVID-19 in our state.

This story was originally published June 28, 2020 at 10:50 AM.