North Dakota’s Republican governor issued a statewide mask mandate Saturday as coronavirus cases in his state and around the country surge to new levels. Residents will be required to wear a face covering in all public indoor settings and outdoors when social distancing becomes unfeasible, effective Monday. Doug Burgum wrote, “Our situation has changed, and we must change with it.” The governor’s order also limits restaurant and bar capacity to 50 percent, event venue capacity to 25 percent, and suspends extracurricular activities at schools. His previous approach had been to leave mask-wearing to individuals: “Masks work and you don’t need a mandate to wear one.” The order comes after a newly elected member of the state legislature died of COVID-19 and Burgum sued to fill the empty seat.
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