Politics of Coronavirus: Fung and GOP Candidates Fail to Wear Masks for Political Photo
GoLocalProv News Team
Politics of Coronavirus: Fung and GOP Candidates Fail to Wear Masks for Political Photo
This time it is Cranston Mayor Allan Fung and three Republican candidates for the City Council ignoring mask-wearing guidance.
Photographed with Fung are Robert Ferri, Don Roach and Nicole Renzulli.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFung told GoLocal, “That was a photoshoot for the three citywide council candidates for their palm cards. We wore our masks the time we were together except the brief times we were taking photos together.” Fung’s wife, Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, a candidate for the Rhode Island general assembly in District 15, was infected with the coronavirus this summer
For months, President Donald Trump mocked mask wearers and now, has been seen at a number of public events wearing a mask.
In contrast, Governor Gina Raimondo chided Rhode Islanders for nearly two months to wear a mask to keep each other safe, and then appeared at the Black Lives Matter State House rally on Friday, June 5 without a mask.
“If you find yourself in a crowd…you’re doing something wrong,” Raimondo has said repeatedly during her daily coronavirus press briefings.
She later issued an apology for failing to wear a mask.
On Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci told actor Matthew McConaughey that “everybody should have to use” a mask to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
“You make a really good point that is the subject of a lot of debate. My recommendation, as you probably know because I’ve said it publicly so many times, is that absolutely we should have universal wearing of masks,” said Fauci.
“The difficulty with mandates is that it tends to be a pushback about, ‘Do you have to waste time enforcing it, or can you really use the power of persuasion from the leadership, everybody doing it, because it’s so important?’ And there’s a debate whether you get any extra mileage out of mandating it. Myself, personally, I would say everybody should have to use it.”
Dr. Michael Fine, the former RI Director of Health, "We are trying to shift probabilities not just prevent transmission between to specific individuals. So more mask-wearing is always better."
"The risk of a brief period of no mask-wearing is always a function of one of the unmasked people having the virus during an infectious period," said Fine. "For that person, a sneeze or a cough or even breathing or speaking is enough [and] more risky inside than outside. The challenge is balancing all these risks with an attempt to function."
Adults will always have to make their own choices," said Fine.
Fine says, "I'd rather have public figures model behavior if possible. But I'm not sure beating up people for their own decisions and choices is going to be helpful at the end of the day as long as those choices don’t involve a known risk of transmission or a massive failure to model in an obvious way."
“We are not defenseless against COVID-19,” said CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield. “Cloth face coverings are one of the most powerful weapons we have to slow and stop the spread of the virus – particularly when used universally within a community setting. All Americans have a responsibility to protect themselves, their families, and their communities.”
In Rhode Island, Raimondo's Executive Order on masks states, “Any person who is in a place open to the public, whether indoors or outdoors, shall continue to cover their mouth and nose with a mask or cloth face covering.”
Moreover, “The Director of [the Rhode Island Department of Health] or her designees are further authorized to assess civil penalties and enact rules and regulations in furtherance of such penalties, for violation of this Order. Such civil penalties shall be in addition to any other penalties authorized by law.”