Kari Lake and the GOP vow to reject an Arizona mask mandate that doesn't exist

Rev up the outrage machine. COVID-19 is back (as we knew it would be) and so, too, are the conspiracy mongers who apparently think the world is coming to an end.

As COVID-19 hospitalization numbers tick up in Arizona and across the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that people wear masks in areas where hospitalizations are high.

As a result, a few hospitals in the northeast, a college in Atlanta and a couple of California businesses have brought back temporary mask mandates.

You would think someone kicked Kari Lake’s puppy.

“I will not comply with any new mandates or lockdowns,” Lake declared last week. “Ain’t gonna happen. Who’s with me?”

Lawmakers are outraged at masks, again

Rep. Andy Biggs is with her.

“We won’t give up our freedoms again,” he proclaimed on Monday. “No more tyrannical vaccine or mask mandates.”

So is state Rep. Justine Wadsack, R-Tucson.

“I’ll be damned if anyone is going to FORCE mask ME or anyone in my family because THEY are afraid,” she proclaimed. “Masks didn’t work in 2020. Masks didn’t work in 2021. Masks didn’t work in 2022. They were virtually non-existent in 2023 ... until now. ... and they won’t work AGAIN!”

Actually, there’s a fair amount of science that says masks, properly worn, can help slow the transmission of COVID-19.

As for vaccines, Arizona had a below-average vaccination rate and the highest-in-the-nation death rate during the pandemic. You do the math.

But that’s old news.

Never mind that Arizona has no mandates

Why all the sudden outrage among the darlings of Arizona’s far right now — fully four months after the pandemic officially ended and a year or more after people quit paying attention?

Are there post-pandemic schemes afoot to strip us of our freedom to reject science and common sense?

Have I missed the proclamation by Gov. Katie Hobbs that she has cooked up some nefarious plot to lock us down and mask us up?

“Absolutely not,” Hobbs’ spokesman, Christian Slater assured me on Monday. “There are no plans for new COVID-related restrictions of any kind.”

I got a similar response from Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association.

“I can’t imagine that anybody in the public health world in Arizona would advocate for any kind of ‘lockdown’ which would, by the way, require a declaration to implement that authority (which is totally unwarranted),” he wrote in a text. “Same with masks.”

Humble did say that he wouldn’t be surprised to see hospitals start requiring visitors to wear masks at some point, given the confluence of the flu, COVID-19 and RSV.

But as for this wholesale fear that Wadsack will have to cover her mouth? She can rest easy.

Law bars government from issuing them

State laws passed since the pandemic now bar the government from issuing mask mandates or requiring businesses to enforce them.

Typhoid Mary herself could come calling and God forbid anyone in Arizona dare tell her to put on a mask.

None of which seems to have reassured the conspiracy crowd.

No less than Donald Trump went on a tirade last week, rallying his supporters to follow him in not complying with the non-existent mandates.

As new variant emerges: America says 'no thanks' to mandates

Naturally, he smells a conspiracy, something about Democrats somehow using masks to rig the election against him.

“To every COVID tyrant who wants to take away our freedom, hear these words: We will not comply, so don’t even think about it," he said last week. "We will not shut down our schools. We will not accept your lockdowns. We will not abide by your mask mandates and we will not tolerate your vaccine mandates.

“They rigged the 2020 election and now they’re trying to do the same thing all over again by rigging the most important election in the history of our country, the 2024 election, even if it means trying to bring back COVID. But they will fail because we will not let it happen.”

Who will protect us from GOP hysterics?

I suppose if you can’t convince people that an election was stolen, then the next best thing is warn them that their freedom is being stolen.

The Arizona Freedom Caucus last week even posted a video in which a nasty masked woman at a Burger King yells at an unmasked father, telling him she hopes his unmasked children die.

“No matter how belligerently Katie Hobbs-types try to shame you for exercising your individual liberty,” the Freedom folk advised, “never give into tyranny — whether it be the tyranny of the government or the tyranny of the Karens. Refuse to comply.”

Curiously, they never mentioned that the video, presumably taken in Ohio since she mentions Gov. Mike DeWine, was posted to the internet more than a year ago.

But hey, never let facts get in the way of an opportunity to rile the masses.

Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, even sent out a press release “as fear over mask mandates and the politicization of COVID-19 from the Left once again become a focal point heading into the upcoming 2024 election cycle.”

“I want to assure you,” she said, “that I will fight tooth and nail to make sure you’re protected from this gross overreach.”

Great, now who’s going to protect us from gross hysterics?

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mask mandates are banned in Arizona. Kari Lake rejects them anyway