Governor Mike Dunleavy was joined by prominent Alaska public health officials in discussing the rising cases of COVID-19 during a press conference held on Wednesday evening.
As the issue of mask usage has become so prominent in 2020, Governor Dunleavy offered a mixed message, but generally advised Alaskans to use common sense: “I get a lot of calls, I get a lot of questions, and I get a lot of statements such as, ‘Masks don’t work!’ – ‘Masks do work!’ It depends upon the situation, but both are right. So, if you think a homemade mask is going to prevent you – prevent you, ironclad prevent you from getting the virus, that’s not the case. It can assist in lowering your chances, but it doesn’t eliminate the possibility that you would get the virus. I know this mask issue has been politicized, which is unfortunate. If you’re going to go to a store, or you’ve gotta be close to people, put a mask on.”
The Governor noted that the ideal goal is to social distance, but that masks at the very least provide a temporary, limited alternative: “The longer you’re talking, the longer you’re inside, all increase your risk of spreading the virus or getting the virus. Really, what a mask is – for the purposes of what we’re taking about – is a tool in place of, temporarily and not ideally, it’s a tool in place of social distancing. Ideally, if you can stay six feet or more, 20 feet or more, away from everybody, you won’t get the virus because this virus has to go from one person to the next.”
Dunleavy says that these are scary times, but that he’s not considering more mandates. Instead, he has a request of Alaskans: “This is going to be a major inconvienence. This is gonna be a blow to our economy and the way that we’ve always conducted life. There’s no doubt about it. What I’m asking folks to do, over the next at least few weeks, is…the state is not talking about rollbacks or mandates, etc. What we’re asking folks, especially younger folks which appears to be the demographic now that is getting infected, we’re asking them to really just put up their guard like we had a few months ago.”
