DEEPLY UNFORTUNATE

Dr. Deborah Birx: Bismarck, N.D., Has Least Mask Use I’ve Seen

And the state has been breaking its records for new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

President Trump’s coronavirus task force coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, has been traveling across the country to see how states are coping with the pandemic. On Sunday and Monday, she visited Bismarck, North Dakota, and announced that it was the lowest level of mask-wearing she had seen yet. “Over the last 24 hours as we were here and we were in your grocery stores and in your restaurants and frankly even in your hotels, this is the least use of masks that we have seen in retail establishments of any place we have been,” she told reporters, according to The Bismarck Tribune. “And we find that deeply unfortunate because you don't know who's infected and you don’t know if you’re infected yourself.” North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has steadfastly opposed the idea of a statewide mask mandate—even as COVID-19 hospitalizations have hit a new high there.