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The top Senate Republican said Monday that there should be “no stigma” to wearing face masks to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus as President Trump continues to refuse to wear one in public. The remarks by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) came one day after Vice President Pence appeared at an event in Texas, one of the new coronavirus epicenters, where he urged Americans to don masks and wore one himself while not speaking. (Sonmez, 6/29)

McConnell added that it’s the responsibility of individuals, small businesses, employers and “all levels of government” to take the necessary public health precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. He noted health care professionals in Kentucky recognize that the extra precautions Americans are taking have helped prevent hospitals from being overrun. (Levine, 6/29)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday that wearing a mask cannot be stigmatized, calling wearing one in public part of the country's new routine amid the coronavirus pandemic. McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor, said until there was a vaccine Americans needed to find a "middle ground" between widespread lockdowns and life pre-coronavirus. (Carney, 6/29)

Two governors urged Vice President Pence last week to adopt stronger messaging to encourage Americans to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) and at least one other governor asked Pence on Friday to promote mask-wearing as several states see new outbreaks of the virus, according to multiple sources on a call between the vice president and governors. Two sources said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) also brought up messaging on masks. (Samuels, 6/29)

After telling Arizonans that many public places were again being closed amid a surge of coronavirus cases, Gov. Doug Ducey ended a somewhat contentious news conference by imploring people to wear face masks. “Arm yourself with a mask,” he said Monday after issuing an executive order to shut down bars, night clubs and water parks while pushing back the start of school in the fall. “It’s your best defense against this virus.” (Billeaud and Prengaman, 6/30)

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said Monday she is ordering residents to wear masks in public in an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. The move will not reimpose restrictions on which state businesses are open, but rather will mandate that all Kansans wear masks when in public both indoors and outdoors when a six-foot distance cannot be maintained. (Klar, 6/29)

Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday extended the state’s public health emergency, certain business restrictions and his shelter-in-place order for the medically fragile amid a record spike in new cases of the coronavirus. The governor also announced Monday that he’s set to go on a statewide fly-around tour ahead of the July Fourth weekend to encourage Georgians to wear masks, but he said he doesn’t plan to require residents to do so. (Bluestein and Trubey, 6/29)

After the city of Jacksonville, Florida, announced that masks will be mandatory for public and indoor locations starting Monday, White House press secretary Kaleigh McEnany would not directly say if President Donald Trump planned to wear one at his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. The event, scheduled for August, is expected to bring more than 40,000 people from all over the country to Jacksonville, and while the rules may apply to them, it's likely Trump will exempt himself. (Cathey, 6/29)

Unions representing 65,000 Las Vegas-area casino workers accused some resort operators on Monday of putting employees at risk of illness and death during the coronavirus pandemic by skimping on safety measures like a requirement for mask-wearing. “They want to work, but they want to work safe,” Culinary Union executive Geoconda Argüello-Kline said of hotel housekeepers, cooks, bartenders, vehicle valets and others. “We’re going to do whatever we need to do to protect these workers, these families and this community.” (Ritter, 6/29)

In the Mississippi city where Elvis Presley was born, the mayor announced last week that masks would be required in public buildings and businesses starting Monday because of the COVID-19 pandemic — and he used the opportunity to debunk an array of rumors. “ANTIFA is not coming to Tupelo, Elvis statues are not being removed, you are not the target of some type of global conspiracy, it is impossible to erase history and no one has attempted to do so, covid is not a hoax," Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton wrote on Facebook. (6/29)

Kaiser Health News: Workers Filed More Than 4,100 Complaints About Protective Gear. Some Still Died. 

COVID-19 cases were climbing at Michigan’s McLaren Flint hospital. So Roger Liddell, 64, who procured supplies for the hospital, asked for an N95 respirator for his own protection, since his work brought him into the same room as COVID-positive patients. But the hospital denied his request, said Kelly Indish, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 875. (Jewett, Luthra and Bailey, 6/30)