Sen. Eliz. Warren Urges CDC Director To Push Mask Mandate As Covid-19 Cases & Deaths Surge In U.S.
'Warren Urges CDC Director to Push Mask Mandates as Covid-19 Cases and Deaths Surge Across the US.' New polling shows a bipartisan majority of registered voters support states requiring people to wear face coverings in public. Jessica Corbett, staff writer, Common Dreams, July 22, 2020.
While the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on communities across the United States, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is urging the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to get involved in mandating face masks to "ensure the health and safety of all Americans" and help "control the surge" in Covid-19 cases that some regions are seeing.
"As cases continue to rise across the country—most severely in areas that initially took weak preventative public health measures or reopened prematurely—it is imperative that the federal government immediately take action to stop the spread," the Massachusetts Democrat and former presidential primary candidate wrote in a Monday letter (pdf) to CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield obtained by CNN.
The senator pointed to a section of federal law which says that whenever the CDC director "determines that the measures taken by health authorities of any state or possession (including political subdivisions thereof) are insufficient to prevent the spread of any of the communicable diseases from such state or possession to any other state or possession, he/she may take such measures to prevent such spread of the diseases as he/she deems reasonably necessary."
Warren wrote:
These authorities were delegated to the CDC to address significant public health threats that cross state and municipal borders and therefore cannot be controlled by a single state or community—such as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Given the overwhelming evidence showing that social distancing, wearing a mask, and careful reopening save lives, and the ongoing indications that other actions currently being taken by many states are "insufficient to prevent the spread" of the coronavirus, I am requesting information about whether the CDC has taken any efforts to exercise these authorities or evaluate whether certain states or local jurisdictions would warrant and benefit from more serious interventions from federal public health authorities.
The senator added that she "would like to know whether the CDC will use its authorities to intervene in instances where state governors or other officials order the removal of restrictions or mask mandates," specifically citing GOP Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's July 15 executive order banning local mask mandates in his state...
Read More, https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/22/warren-urges-cdc-director-push-mask-mandates-covid-19-cases-and-deaths-surge-across
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A Mask Mandate!
YES!
Sen. Warren is my pick for The Best VP!!! 
Go Liz indeed! She has the energy and enthusiasm to get the job done and done right!
