Coronavirus Threat Rises Across U.S.: 'We just have to assume the monster is everywhere.'

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5. Kick

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, R, said Thursday she wasn't convinced a mask mandate is effective: "No one knows particularly the best strategy."

Earlier in the week, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, R, demurred on masks and bar closures even as he stood next to Birx and spoke to reporters.

In Missouri, Gov. Michael Parson, R, was dismissive of New York's imposition of a quarantine on residents from his state as a sign of a worsening pandemic. "I'm not going to put much stock in what New York says - they're a disaster," he said at a news conference Monday.

Missouri has no mask mandate, leaving it to local officials to act - often in the face of hostility and threats. In the town of Branson, angry opponents testified Tuesday that there was no reason for a mask order when deaths in the county have been few and far between.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, D, tried to implement broad statewide measures early in the pandemic, only to have his "Safer at Home" order struck down by the state's Supreme Court.