Thanks for the half-measure on masks, Gov. McMaster. But you still need to do more.
A delayed act of enlightenment is always preferable to one that has yet to be performed at all, right?
So by that very basic standard and very low bar, it is encouraging that Gov. Henry McMaster has issued an order that, effective Aug. 3, will require South Carolinians to wear face masks in venues like movie theaters, concert halls and sports facilities where spectators are present.
Why is it encouraging?
Because it does represent some forward movement away from McMaster’s previously inflexible view that pretty much no South Carolinian should be required to wear a face mask while doing anything anywhere in our state — even as South Carolina’s rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to soar and spike.
So, yes.
Hooray.
Hooray that our governor has shown some progress in moving beyond pure stubborn intransigence regarding the concept of requiring people to wear face masks in response to a deadly respiratory-based illness.
But here’s the blunt truth:
McMaster’s recent move is merely a half-measure at a time when a decisive full step is still needed to slow COVID-19’s troubling impact across our state.
South Carolina still needs to have a statewide order requiring its citizens to wear face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
And McMaster still needs to issue that order.
Now.
It’s just that simple.
Obvious questions
McMaster’s recent move begs some obvious questions:
▪ If the governor thinks it’s worthwhile to require face masks to be worn during some specific targeted activities in our state, then what’s the difficulty in simply expanding that requirement to better protect all South Carolinians?
You know, not just the South Carolinians who happen to decide they want to see a matinee showing of “Summerland” in a movie theater?
▪ If the governor suddenly thinks that it’s a good idea for local communities to enact their own face mask requirements — and is even urging the municipalities that already had such rules in place to strengthen them — then what’s the difficulty in simply using his power to speed up that process?
You know, by using his executive authority to issue a statewide order requiring all South Carolinians to wear face masks?
And all of these questions lead to another obvious one:
Why is it necessary at all to ask these questions?
Decisive action needed
After months of being “Governor Inaction” when it comes to addressing the need to wear face masks to combat COVID-19 — a step that all of the scientific research clearly shows is vital to fighting this modern-day plague — it is indeed heartening that McMaster has finally reached the stage of “Governor Half-Measure” on this issue.
But as thousands and thousands of South Carolinians continue to contract COVID-19 on a weekly basis — and as far too many of us continue to die from it on a daily basis — we need McMaster to speed up his pace of enlightenment on a statewide face mask requirement.
The governor must issue that order.
He must do so unapologetically.
He must do forcefully.
And he must do so immediately.
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 2:21 PM.