By Laura Olson | Arizona Mirror
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus response plan seeks to put a national mask mandate in place by calling on all governors to require face coverings in their states.
Related: ASU study reveals Arizona teens less likely to wear masks around friends
It’s a move that public health experts say could dramatically reduce the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths.
But putting wider mask laws in place would be difficult if not impossible, given the resistance already in many states. On the federal level, Congress has shown little interest in mask requirements, and an executive order from Biden requiring face masks would be legally shaky, according to an analysis from the Congressional Research Service
In his public remarks and on his transition website, Biden has said his approach would be to urge governors and mayors to enact their own mandates that residents wear a mask when around people who aren’t from their household. Biden, who regularly wears a mask, intends to begin reaching out to governors as soon as this week to begin his personal-persuasion campaign, according to NBC News.
