TRUMP, IF YOU WANT TO STOP COVID, WEAR A MASK
ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
…it is becoming clear that widespread use of masks is the most effective tool to reduce Covid-19’s medical and financial impacts. I ask that you:
- Always wear a mask in public.
- Constantly recommend others wear masks.
- Urge Trump to wear a mask to model the best behavior and reduce the political associations of masks.
CALL SENATOR MERKLEY
CALL SENATOR WYDEN
ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR HOUSE REPS
Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here.
SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
…it is becoming clear that widespread use of masks is the most effective tool to reduce Covid-19’s medical and financial impacts. I ask that you:
- Always wear a mask in public.
- Constantly recommend others wear masks.
- Urge Trump to wear a mask to model the best behavior and reduce the political associations of masks.
CALL SUZANNE BONAMICI (OR-01)
CALL GREG WALDEN (OR-02)
CALL BLUMENAUER (OR-03)
CALL PETER DEFAZIO (OR-04)
CALL KURT SCHRADER (OR-05)
ACTION THREE: SIGN UP FOR A VIRTUAL LETTER-WRITING EVENT.
Indivisible Oregon is hosting virtual letter writing parties on May 30 and June 6. Sign up at https://swingleft.org/group/indivisible-oregon
Or write letters to voters from home whenever it’s convenient for you. Register with Vote Forward to get started at votefwd.org
Host your own virtual letter-writing party! Get started here: http://swingleft.org/p/virtual-letter-writing-party.
BACKGROUND:
As Covid-19 hotspots flare across the US, hitting Black families especially hard, new high-quality studies show that:
- The corona virus’s “dominant route” of transmission is through large droplets and minute aerosols suspended in the air.
- Masks are “the most effective means to prevent” airborne transmission.
- If 50% of the population began wearing masks, “it would (flatten) future disease waves and (allow) for less stringent lockdowns.”
- If a large enough portion of the population wore masks, the outbreak would burn out.
While masks offer the best hope to control the outbreak, they have their own political baggage. Trump supporters reject the science and argue masks demands infringe on their freedom of choice. Black people worry that wearing a mask will draw undue police attention.
But even Republican governors urge their populations to reject the notion masks are a political statement.
Trump refuses to wear a mask, and has moved the Republican convention to Florida, a state which will not require conventioneers wear a mask. This is almost criminal.
The US continues to see about 20,000 new Covid-19 cases and hundreds of deaths daily. New hotspots will increase demands for lockdowns. Both can be significantly reduced by the widespread use of masks.
