A University of Wyoming survey found that mask wearing in Wyoming has increased substantially since Governor Gordon’s state-wide mask mandate.
The survey collected results in early October, November and December; in December, 76% of Wyomingites said they wear their mask “always” or “often” in public places—compared to 69% in November and 61% in October.
The survey also found that counties who enacted a mask mandate, which account for approximately half of Wyoming counties, had higher rates of mask wearing in public places.
“I have noticed an increase in mask wearing,” said Christopher Bury, Physiology student and Turtle Rock Cafe Barista.
“There are some individuals who I recall not wearing a mask before the mask mandate; those individuals now wear masks at least in the lobby of the establishment. Although there are not as many mask wearers as I would like to see, I have noticed a dramatic increase in mask wearing,” said Bury.
Dan Kelly, the manager of Ridleys grocery store, agreed that he has seen increased mask use in the past few weeks. When asked about if there was less adversity to mask wearing he said “probably not”.
Kelly said he still sees people not wearing masks.
“I would say there are more people wearing masks in the grocery store at least where they walk in or in a place where mask wearing would be enforced. If someone is truly against wearing a mask, they will find any way to get around the rule and take it off once they’re in the establishment,” said Bury.
“It is a hard policy to enforce”
“Since it is a food services establishment, Turtle Rock requires masks in the lobby and when you’re ordering. You’re supposed to be wearing them at all times if you’re not eating or drinking. Obviously that is hard to enforce when people specifically come to our establishment to eat or have coffee with a friend. It can be hard to enforce that,” said Bury.
“We have signs up saying there’s a mask mandate. It’s required by law now so you have to do it.”
Bury said mask wearing on campus has not changed significantly since earlier in the semester.
“I haven’t been on campus since the mask mandate was imposed because of Phase 4. The university has always required masks on campus so I have seen more mask wearers on campus than anywhere else,” said Bury.
Besides reporting on mask use in Wyoming, the UW survey also found Wyomingite’s confidence in the state and federal healthcare systems is plummeting. Wyomingites that said they’re confident in the state and federal response to COVID has decreased from 51% to 42% since November.
Moreover, the survey exposed confidence in the vaccine is also dwindling, finding 38% of the Wyoming population said they were unlikely to get the vaccine from side effect concerns.
For more information about UW’s survey on increased mask wearing, visit https://wysac.uwyo.edu/wysac/projects/uw-survey-finds-mask-use-in-wyoming-on-the-rise/.
