How the governors of Iowa, Utah, and North Dakota pivoted and issued public health orders to contain recent coronavirus surges

Utah Governor Gary Herbert, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum all issued mask mandates.AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, @GovHerbert/Twitter, @DougBurgum/Twitter

• The US is fighting against a surge of new cases of coronavirus across the country.
• Governors of Iowa, Utah, and North Dakota all enforced their first statewide mask mandate this month.
• The governors cited alarming increases of coronavirus cases in each state that prompted the new mask mandates and caused them to change their stances on the policies.

Cases of coronavirus are surging across the United States. As more people congregate indoors in the cold weather and pandemic fatigue leads to more risk-taking behavior, data shows an alarming surge of new daily coronavirus cases.

The US has a total of over 12 million confirmed cases and over 250,000 deaths from coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged the public in recent weeks to forgo any travel for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and a bipartisan group of governors from seven states penned an op-ed in the Washington Post asking families to "reconsider" spending the holiday with "people outside your household."

In addition to recommendations from the national level, a number of states and cities have announced new restrictions in the wake of the rising cases, including three governors who have pivoted from their previous stances to enforce statewide mask mandates.

Here's how the governors of Utah, Iowa, and South Dakota eventually ordered the policies in response to the country's third wave.