CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Department of Health have approved requests from 15 counties to implement mask mandates.
Health, city and county officials in Natrona explained on Thursday that the new countywide mask mandate is an effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and prevent the need to take more drastic action such as requiring businesses to close like occurred in the spring.
As of 4:50 pm Thursday, 3,816 people have signed an online petition asking Governor Mark Gordon to implement a statewide mask mandate in Wyoming and 357 people had signed a counter petition also launched on change.org which asks the state to eliminate all COVID-19 restrictions.
Mask mandates are the most recent new public health orders to be implemented to slow the spread of the virus, but Wyoming has had other measures in place.
The Wyoming Department of Health provides links to the three statewide public health orders which are in effect through Nov. 13:
- 11/13/20 Statewide Public Health Order Continuation and Update on Public Spaces
- 11/13/20 Statewide Public Health Order Continuation and Update on Gatherings
- 11/13/20 Statewide Public Health Order Continuation and Update on Personal Services
The Wyoming Department of Health reported 21 additional COVID related deaths among the state’s residents on Thursday, bringing the total to 176 since the start of the pandemic.
The state has been adding an average of 570.6 new cases per day over the last 14 days and Wyoming has seen a total of 22,489 confirmed cases. Over half have been reported since Oct. 27.
Health officials have said that staying home when sick, wearing masks, social distancing and practicing good hygiene can help slow the spread of the virus.
Citizens who signed the petition in favor of mandating the use of masks suggest it is a tool Wyoming should use to help slow the spread of the virus, as explained in this article.
Those who have signed the counter petition asking the state to remove all COVID restrictions expressed the following:
- “People are responsible for their own health.” – Therese Derusso of Casper
- “Keep pushing! The other side doesn’t stop and won’t stop! They will keep pushing for more control and more mandates! We all know this virus isn’t going anywhere! Why not encourage people to be more healthy? Stop eating fast food and processed foods. Start being more active! Start making your body and immune system stronger so that you can fight off infections and viruses!” – Jane Moede of Casper
- “What makes America great is that we all have the right to choose what is best for ourselves. Start with one small freedom to choose and the rest will disappear quickly. Until they tell you what you can and can not do in your own home.” – Joie Merendino Lamb of Rawlins
- “I will not comply with a mask mandate or any other phony restrictions! This has gotten out of hand!” – Jessica Baughman of Glenrock
- “I’m tried of the hypocrisy of this. It’s okay for certain things but I can’t attend church or have family Thanksgiving.” – Tammie Scheetz of Glenrock
- “My body my choice right? Mask dont work its obvious is mask mandatory states. It is not the governments job to monitor my health or anyone els. Government is over stepping our constitutional rights. Hospitals benefit from covid cases yet no signs of the flu this year everyone has covid how convenient. Covid has a 99% recovery rate…” – Kimberly Vrana of Upton
- “The government should not be telling me what I can and cannot do with my life! I will spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family and any other time of the year. The people that want to mask up, go ahead! I also don’t want to have only 2 tickets per family to watch my senior grandson play his last year of basketball! Let us in, let us live our lives!” – Dana Blakeman of Moorcroft
- “Its my right to decide if I need to suffocate myself in a mask or not!!” – Cheryl Baeriswyl of Casper
- “My health is MY responsibility, the government is NOT here to save us! Keep out of my business.” – Greg Hansen of Casper
- “‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ I will not be bullied by anyone, into something I do not believe in. In this country, I have the right to chose for myself.” – James Benson of Casper
- “Government overreach.” – Kody Posten of Gillette
- “I don’t think that wearing masks stops the virus from spreading I think it causes more problems.” – Angel Guptill of Casper
- “We all have the right to keep living our lives. No one knows what tomorrow brings, but we have the right to live a free life today.” – Jeanene Groves of Gillette
- “Life must go on! We must get back to normal or we will forget what it was!” – Portia Lester of Casper
- “Masks do not work.” – Hailee Rushing of Casper
- “Small business matters more than big tech.” – Ray Mathewson of Buffalo
- “I am signing for my freedom and all who have fought to give me that right!” – Karen Griswold of Casper
- “The state is committing a gross overreach of power with all the restrictions related to COVID. It must stop.” – Theresa Enders of Casper
- “My kids mental well being is important. And if we are gonna require masks, they should have to adjust to OSHA guidelines for proper PPE. a cloth mask is insufficient to protect against airborne infection. It if was about ‘public safety’, they would be requiring air tight respirators.” – David Sisco of Casper
- “It is my right to wear what I want and don’t want.” – Brandy Eldridge of Casper
- “I doubt the efficacy of masks and view being forced (I won’t do it) is a political thing.” – Chris McClain of Buffalo
- “My Right.” – Heather Buckingham of Riverton
The petition asking for COVID-19 restrictions to be eliminated was started by Jesse Jones of Casper.
“Choosing freedom does not mean [you’re] a selfish, hateful, bigot, racist or wish anyone harm or death,” he wrote in the petition. “So many of us are tired of the false narratives, half truths, social control plagued by this ‘pandemic.’ This does not mean we wish harm upon anyone.”
Dr. Seth J. Gillihan, a licensed psychologist, says in an article for Psychology Today that the controversy around masks may not exactly be about the masks themselves. Rather, masks may be standing in as a symbol for other emotions people are having.
“Millions of people are out of work, and many businesses are likely to fail,” Gillihan said. “Countless people are worried about their ability to survive: How will they afford food and pay their rent or mortgage, not to mention their healthcare?”
“In light of these anxieties, masks may trigger our fear that someone is trying to block our pursuit of happiness—either by not wearing a mask and threatening our life, or by making us wear masks and taking away our liberty. (Some people also don’t like masks because they panic when wearing one, due to claustrophobia or feeling like it’s hard to breathe; others find masks intolerable because of conditions like autism spectrum disorder and sensory processing issues.)”
