Analysis: Virus surge forces Arizona gov's hand on masks

PHOENIX (AP) — After telling Arizonans that many public places were again being closed amid a surge of coronavirus cases, Gov. Doug Ducey ended a somewhat contentious news conference by imploring people to wear face masks.

“Arm yourself with a mask,” he said Monday after issuing an executive order to shut down bars, night clubs and water parks while pushing back the start of school in the fall. “It’s your best defense against this virus.”

While the Republican governor has never discouraged the use of masks, his full-throated endorsement of them was a big change from a largely lukewarm stance the last few months.

“There are some people that can’t wear masks for whatever reason, shortness of breath or they are asthmatic,” Ducey said June 13 when asked why he wouldn’t mandate the use of them.

The change in tone on masks and a return to restrictions are the latest signs that Ducey, similar to some other Republican governors nationwide, is being forced to set political considerations aside amid surging cases.

“He saw that medically and even politically he needed to do something,” said Mike O’Neil, an Arizona pollster and political analyst. “The greater political risk would be if those figures continue to go through the ceiling and he didn't act."

Just a week ago, Ducey attended a Phoenix event in a church with President Donald Trump that featured many attendants not wearing masks. Ducey wore a mask when in the crowd but did not while introducing Trump. A few days before that event, Ducey allowed mayors to make wearing masks in public places mandatory, a turnabout after weeks of pressure to allow cities to do more slow the virus spread. Ducey had resisted allowing such measures, arguing that they lead to a patchwork of regulations.

“The...