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 Hospitalizations have spiked by 40%, and the county is one of ten in
the most populous U.S. state put on a watch list of places that
might be ordered to lock down their economies again after weeks of
careful reopening.
But when Michael Tubbs, mayor of the county seat of Stockton,
submitted an ordinance requiring residents to wear masks when they
are in public, he did not get a single vote from the six other
members of the city council.
It is "a political hazard to act in the interest of public health,"
complained Tubbs, a liberal whose city has several conservatives on
the council.
The pushback Tubbs experienced - and the spike in cases the county's
health director says was exacerbated when people celebrated Mothers
Day and Memorial Day without following physical distancing rules -
offers a glimpse into the complicated politics around lifting
coronavirus restrictions.
Last week, the chief health officer for Orange County in Southern
California resigned amid protests and personal attacks after she
issued an order to wear masks in public. Four other health officers
in California have resigned or retired in the last two months, as
have two public health department directors, local media have
reported as cases and deaths continue to rise in the state.
On Tuesday, the state reported nearly 160,000 confirmed COVID-19
cases and over 5,200 deaths.
Health directors and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention say wearing face coverings in public is essential to slow
the spread of the virus.
Public health restrictions run against the grain of individualism in
American culture, and often generate resistance, said U.C. Berkeley
epidemiologist Arthur Reingold. Chafing under rules requiring masks
in public is reminiscent of prior health care emergencies, such as
the uproar that followed efforts to close gay bath houses during the
HIV epidemic, Reingold said.
Throughout the country, resistance to public health measures has
also taken on a partisan tinge. A Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted
last month found that just one-third of Republicans were "very
concerned" about the virus, compared to nearly half of Democrats.
Trump eschews wearing a mask in public, while his Democratic
opponent in November, Joe Biden, generally wears one.
MAKING HAY
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has loosened the state's
shutdown even as cases in some areas continue to rise. Stockton,
which also has a number of conservative members of the county Board
of Supervisors, is emblematic of places where wearing a mask has
become politicized.
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City council seats in California are non partisan, and San Joaquin County leans
Democratic like much of California. But the percentage of voters here who are
Republican is higher than the state as a whole. Tubbs is a Democrat.
"It's quite normal during a crisis for political opponents to make hay out of
the crisis," said U.C. Berkeley political scientist Ann Keller, who studies the
politics of public health. That 2020 is an election year has made the
polarization worse, she said.
In San Joaquin County, Health Officer Maggie Park attributes the rise in cases
to two cherry packing plants where people are working in close proximity, and to
families and friends gathering without wearing masks or physical distancing,
along with recent moves to re-open the economy.
Already, more people have been hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of
COVID-19 in San Joaquin county than at its earlier peak on April 4, a Reuters
analysis of state and county data show.
Not only are more patients being hospitalized, but patients who put off
unrelated care in fear that they would contract the coronavirus are also filling
up beds, said Scott Neeley, Chief Medical Officer at St. Joseph's Hospital in
Stockton. The hospital can handle a surge, but resources will be stressed if
cases continue to mount quickly, he said.
If hospitals become overwhelmed, forcing another shutdown, that will wreak
economic havoc and lead more people to postpone important care, said Daniel
Wolcott, Chief Executive Officer of Dameron Hospital in Stockton and Lodi
Memorial Hospital in Lodi.
The way to avoid that is simple, he said.
"Wear a mask," Wolcott said. "It’s not a political symbol."
(Reporting by Sharon ; editing by Bill Tarrant and Alistair Bell)
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