Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory never asked Lafayette's top medical expert about his decision to reject a mask requirement, our media partners at The Advocate report.
Guillory frequently claims that his coronavirus policies are based on input from a task force of medical experts, and he did so again on Tuesday when explaining his decision not to impose a mask requirement across the parish, the paper reports.
“Based on the information I’m getting on the medical task force, looking at the situation, I would not be justified in requiring a parish-wide mask order,” he said in response to City Councilman Glenn Lazard's request that Guillory consider an executive order requiring masks in public.
The unspecified information Guillory referred to did not include any recommendation concerning a parish-wide mask order. He never asked for his public health advisors’ opinion, and they never offered one, the paper reports.
The task force leader, Tina Stefanski, told the newspaper Wednesday that such an order would “absolutely” be helpful in stemming the Lafayette virus outbreak, which is one of the worst in the state.
When the Advocate's reporter tried to ask Guillory more questions about it, Guillory interrupted and told the reporter he had "no good intent in your heart in that question," the Advocate reports.
To read the entire story, with more from Guillory and Stefanski, click here.
