Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has for months resisted calls for a mask mandate, saying it was up to the citizenry to make that choice for themselves. But on Friday, Gordon publicly admitted that policy was a failure. “We’ve relied on people to be responsible and they’re being irresponsible,” he said at a briefing. You might expect that at that point, Gordon would have lowered the boom and imposed a statewide mask requirement like the ones that have helped slow the spread of COVID-19 elsewhere. But he did not. Instead, much as he had done a week earlier, the 63-year-old Republican threatened to tighten restrictions if his constituents didn’t start exercising some of that personal responsibility soon. The state has set new COVID-19 records day after day, and hospitals are warning they are running out of space.
