‘It’s my right not to wear mask’

For Davey, a resident of the city of Huntington Beach in southern California, the requirement to wear a mask to curb the spread of coronavirus is not something he takes seriously.

"It's a hoax," the 51-year-old told AFP as he exited a clothing store maskless, referring to a state rule that people in most public places wear face coverings.

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"The more you test people, the more you come up with new cases," he said, echoing words from President Donald Trump as he attempted to explain the record number of infections recently recorded in California and several other states.

Davey is not the only resident of this city in Orange County, which has a large Republican presence, to revolt against lockdowns and mask rules.

"It's my constitutional, God-given right not to wear a mask," said Davey, who declined to give his last name.

While the number of COVID-19 cases in Orange County has not exploded like in some particularly hard-hit cities across the country's south and west, the disease's incidence is still worrisome.

US deaths from the novel coronavirus topped 140,000 on Saturday as cases continued to rise in 42 out of 50 states over the past two weeks, according to a Reuters tally. Since late June, the United States has seen a resurgence in new cases and now, six weeks later, deaths have also begun rising, according to a weekly Reuters analysis of state and county data.

An employee at a nearby shop said many business owners had given up trying to ensure mask compliance, given how sensitive the issue has become.

Few people encountered along city streets on a recent afternoon wore masks.

Among them was Tracy, a 25-year-old walking back from the beach carrying her surfboard. She said she initially tried to convince friends to wear masks but eventually gave up.

"It sometimes ended up quickly in a fight," she said. "I don't know why, but the issue is totally sensitive. I decided to let it go."

Controversy over the issue prompted the county's chief health officer, Nichole Quick, to resign last month after weeks of defending her countywide face mask order. Her successor scrapped the mandate, saying that masks would be "strongly recommended," not required.

Meanwhile, County Sheriff Don Barnes has said he won't enforce the statewide mask order, opting instead for "education first."

Alison Dundes Renteln, a political science professor at USC, said the controversy goes beyond political identity.

"I'm not denying that there is a kind of a tribalism, hyper-politicization," she told AFP. "But I think it is much more complex... Americans don't like the government to tell them what to do.

"You know, 'give me liberty or give me death.'"