As several U.S. states begin to fully re-open and remove COVID-19 restrictions, Biden called on every governor, mayor, and local leader to maintain or reinstate state-wide mask mandates.
“I’m reiterating my call for every governor, mayor, and local leader to maintain and reinstate the mask mandate. Please, this is not politics. Reinstate the mandate if you let it down,” the President said on Monday.
Later, Biden also said that he believed states should put a pause on reopening endeavors.
Biden’s comments came after several state governors revoked mask mandates as daily COVID-19 cases dropped in their states, leading critics to claim that reopening states would cause spikes in coronavirus cases.
The Governors of Mississippi and Texas removed their states’ COVID-19 restrictions earlier this month, which has not had an effect on the steadily decreasing number of daily cases.
Biden had originally described Mississippi and Texas’ removal of mask mandates as “neanderthal thinking,” and said, “I hope everybody’s realized by now, these masks make a difference. We’re on the cusp of being able [to] fundamentally change the nature of this disease.”
