IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Some Republican governors are changing course on their coronavirus pandemic response as coronavirus cases skyrocket nationwide in the days after the election.
Chief executives in Iowa, Utah and North Dakota are among those who have issued mask mandates and other restrictions in recent days.
GOP governors in Ohio and West Virginia have also recently strengthened existing mask mandates, while Mississippi’s governor expanded the state’s partial mandate to cover more counties.
Governors who long resisted health officials' calls for widespread mask wearing now find themselves in the throes of a crisis and forced to follow science or risk making a dangerous situation worse through their inaction.