US western governors walk in different directions as COVID-19 cases climb

DENVER, the United States - Throughout America's West, hospitals beds fill with record numbers of COVID-19 patients. However, facing the second surge of infections, states are going to different ways, with some implementing and extending restrictions while others hesitating to do so.

Colorado Governor Jered Polis on Sunday extended by another 30 days the state mandate to wear masks in public.

Also on Sunday, a study released by Johns Hopkins University named Colorado as one of 13 US states with a record numbers of coronavirus cases in the past week.

A majority of the hardest-hit states are located in America's West, the study said, including Alaska, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, and South Dakota. The Midwestern states of Wisconsin, Ohio, Nebraska and Oklahoma were also cited.

Since the coronavirus pandemic started, the United States has recorded more than 7.6 million COVID-19 cases and 213,000 related deaths, USA Today reported Monday.

Montana added another 423 COVID-19 cases Monday, pushing the number of known active cases in the state to 7,432, which is the highest since the state started regularly publishing COVID-19 information in March.

Active hospitalizations also increased, according to the state's case mapping and information website, which is based on Department of Public Health and Human Services information.

In Yellowstone County, the most populous county in the rural state, health officer John Felton said Monday that he would limit public or private gatherings to no more than 25 people, inside or outside, starting Wednesday. Mask-wearing and physical distancing would still be required.

Wyoming, which has only about 600,000 residents, reported Monday 152 new COVID-19 cases, setting a new record high total of active COVID-19 cases even though the state's governor Mark Gordon warned last week that the state was trending in the "wrong direction," with its COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations.

"We have seen some very serious deterioration in conditions," Gordon said.

At the same time though, the state continued to relax health orders on restaurants by increasing capacity and the number of people who can be seated at a booth.

Wyoming health officials say restaurants have not been recognized as a gathering place where the virus is being spread on a major basis.

As a result of those conditions, the state has turned to the Wyoming National Guard for help.

Polis told media that Colorado's rate of mask wearing is much higher than places like the Dakotas and Wisconsin, where coronavirus cases are skyrocketing.

"They have a lower mask wearing rate than the rest of the nation, around the 45 percent range," Polis said. "I don't have the most recent numbers from Colorado, but last I saw we were in the 80s."

Like healthcare professionals, Polis saw a direct correlation between mask wearing and a reduction in COVID-19 cases.

"I'm the most worried I have been since early in July," Polis said.

Polis, a Democrat, has followed healthcare guidelines since the pandemic first broke out in March, shuttering bars and restaurants, and mandating mask wearing and social distancing.

Monday's mask wearing extension -- Polis's third -- came as Colorado's Department of Health said the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has grown by 45 percent since Sept 28.

Although some 30 US states mandate the use of face masks, a handful of western states still have not, since their governors refuse the idea despite the advice of their own state healthcare professionals.

In South Dakota, active cases increased to another new daily record of 6,062, up from Sunday's 5,865, local Keloland News reported Monday.

But Monday, South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem, "who has garnered national attention for her hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic," was campaigning in Minnesota for US President Donald Trump, the Duluth News Tribune reported.

Despite scientific evidence that mask wearing prevents the spread of COVID-19, Noem has publically scoffed at the idea "as South Dakota COVID cases soar," the Tribune said Monday.

"Noem's home state now leads the country in new COVID cases per capita, but she remains the leading champion of unconscionably selfish recklessness masquerading as freedom," the Daily Beast reported Friday.

Noem's Dakota neighbor to the north is also run by a Republican, Governor Doug Burgum, who has resisted a mask mandate because it "could create more divisiveness," he told the media.

But unlike Noem, Burgum has repeatedly stressed the importance of face mask protection.

Two weeks ago, Burgum launched a 1.8 million US dollars campaign to urge mask wearing, calling them "essential," but dismissed a "mandate for North Dakota, despite high infection rates in North Dakota's most populous metro areas," the local Grand Fork Herald reported.

"Can (the advertising campaign) overcome the reluctance of some to wear masks, despite scientific evidence showing they work?" the article asked.

In Arizona, Governor Doug Ducey reluctantly gave the state's two biggest cities, Phoenix and Tucson, the right to mandate mask wearing, just before they were going to do it anyway.

Utah, like North Dakota, has widely promoted mask wearing, but without a mandate.

Two months ago, after Republican Governor Gary Herbert allowed Democratic leaders in Salt Lake County to impose their own mask rule, the county's share of cases in the state steadily declined, despite its more dense population.

And, like Arizona, there is still no statewide mask order in Utah, and face coverings remain contentious.

Meanwhile, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson reiterated the positive effects of face protection, "These actions are saving lives, protecting health and stabilizing the spread of COVID-19 cases," she told the media.

The number of new cases reported daily in Salt Lake County is nearly down to levels seen in June, but overall case numbers in the state have doubled in the same time frame, according to state health department information.