Phoenix mandates wearing masks in public as virus cases rise

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- In a 7-2 vote on June 19, the Phoenix City Council voted to implement the wearing of facial coverings in the public to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego says Valley mayors are trying to work together as much as possible so mask requirements are similar across cities.

Arizona mayors are free to make wearing face masks mandatory to slow the spread of coronavirus, Gov. Doug Ducey said June 17, a turnabout amid pressure as the state became a national virus hotspot.

The Republican governor, who entered his weekly virus news conference for the first time wearing a face mask but took it off to speak, said allowing cities to decide would work better than a statewide mandate.

The governor had as recently as last week resisted allowing cities to do more than the state allows to slow the virus spread, saying statewide directives avoid a patchwork of regulations. But he pointed to vastly different county rates of COVID-19 cases and alluded to pushback that some more conservative counties may have to a mandate.