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Washington Turns To A Favorite Son To Convince People To Wear Masks

Washington Emergency Management Department

With masks becoming mandatory in Washington today [Friday], the challenge for state and county officials is to get people to comply with Governor Jay Inslee’s order.

The governor walks the talk. He wore a dark blue mask during a press conference in Spokane on Thursday. But sometimes it takes someone with a new voice on the issue to get the message across.

“Hello, my fellow Washingtonians. This is Jim Mattis and I’m here to talk about that nasty virus, Covid. Make sure we’re wearing the face masks. We keep the social distancing and let’s not go out any more than we have to. Over the course of my career, I’ve learned that divisiveness will never work in defeating the enemy. We’ve got to all pull together. We can get through this if we’re united and we’re going to win.”

This public service announcement is from Washington’s Emergency Management Division.

Sometimes it takes a role model to motivate people and sometimes it takes the fear of God. When Inslee announced that he was going to require masks in Yakima County because of the rapid spread of the virus there, he got results.

“We know that in Yakima County that the percentage of people who wear masks have gone from 35% two weeks ago to 60% last weekend. The reason that is happening is people are learning what a mask can do," Inslee said.

Masks may now be mandatory, but authorities in several counties they won’t arrest or cite people for not wearing them.