In late July, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced that his administration would be using $3 million Arizona Department of Health Services dollars on a public relations campaign intended to educate the public on the importance of wearing masks. That message of “mask up Arizona” appeared to have gotten through to the vast majority of participants in a Yuma event featuring President Donald Trump and members of the National Border Patrol Council last week.
Well, almost everyone – except the governor.
Ducey’s statewide campaign recruited Arizona advertising and public relations firms to promote the use of masks to contain the spread of COVID-19. “Arizonans can help contain the spread of COVID-19 by taking the precautions we know work, like wearing a mask and practicing physical distancing,” said Governor Ducey at the time.
“Our purpose is to get this message out to all Arizonans,” said Ducey. “We are proud to come together with our partners in the private sector to stress the importance of these practices as we continue to fight COVID-19.”
Ducey and his team have been relentless in the mask messaging.
As we head into the weekend, remember to continue following this commonsense guidance to keep yourself and others safe and healthy.
Wash your hands, maintain physical distance and #MaskUpAZ ? pic.twitter.com/J9U1CKF0wg
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) August 21, 2020
Despite the fact that Arizona is experiencing a dramatic decrease in COVID-19 cases, and the R-naught number (R0) has dropped to the second lowest in the country, Ducey continues to impose, what are considered to be “extreme restrictions” on Arizona’s restaurants and fitness centers.
Will Lord Ducey respond? He can’t because he knows, that we know, that he is running a scam! https://t.co/EhLGWxl0Yy
— James T Harris (@JamesTHarris) August 23, 2020
The R-naught number is a measure of how fast a virus is spreading. The R-naught number represents the average number of people who become infected by an infectious person, according to the National Institute of Health.
TODAY:
Arizona’s Rt (r-naught) has declined from yesterday to .83, the second lowest in the nation. Arizona, let’s keep up our efforts to contain the spread of #COVID19. https://t.co/1GWkz8ZhZi 1/ pic.twitter.com/BUzoWxi6p5
— The 9th Floor (@9thFloorAZ) August 21, 2020