The Washington Post | ‘I feel defeated’: Mask and vaccine mandates cause new divides as officials try to head off virus surge

Public health officials highlight data that mask mandates are widely supported and that face coverings are a simple way to ward off transmission. About 6 in 10 Americans support mask requirements in areas with high coronavirus transmission, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this month.

“It makes sense with caseloads going up like they are,” said Brian Kendall, an infectious-disease physician at Providence Portland Medical Center in Portland, Ore., praising new mask rules taking effect in the city this month as he headed into a local gym — clad in a face covering. “A lot of my colleagues are extremely frustrated to the point of cynicism.”

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