Swedens initial Covid surge was blamed on those lax policies, but Sweden stuck to them and actually discouraged masks in most situations. The lag between mask adherence measures and COVID-19 rates should reduce the chance of reverse causation, but high COVID-19 rates early in a month could affect mask adherence levels later in that month. Should You Wear a Mask at Outdoor Events? No, Is the Subject Area "Public policy" applicable to this article? That second observation requires a caveat, since testing rates affect the number of cases that are recorded. The index does not evaluate the effectiveness of individual policies. More could be on the way. The study also found a statistically significant increase in the rate of COVID-19 infections and deaths starting 40 days after indoor or outdoor dining at restaurants was allowed. He adds that the two states "had nearly identical infection rates.". The book documents how mask mandates were implemented without scientific justification, how they failed around the world, and how public officials and journalists have kept making fools of themselves by pretending otherwise. No, Is the Subject Area "Pandemics" applicable to this article? "They dont know how well people complied with these mandates or what proportion of the populationwas actually wearing masks.. Because stay-at-home order, mask wearing policy, mask adherence, and COVID-19 rates can vary from month to month, we listed those states with consistent classifications across the period April through September (or May through October for COVID-19 rates). Some reopened quickly and saw cases rise. Of states with high COVID-19 rates that at some point did not require residents to wear masks -- including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire,. Virginia. Researchers aggregate those indicators and assign a number from 0 to 100 to each governments total response. Thats what this study was pursuing to try to answer,"said Michael Bisesi, vice dean and interim chair of environmental health sciences in Ohio State University's College of Public Health. Some states now have ended their statewide masks mandates, but the president, and others, have urged them to reinstate masks mandates because of the recent upsurge that our nation has seen in COVID-19 cases. Experts interviewed by USA TODAY said the One America News Network had "misinterpreted" or "mischaracterized" the findings of the CDC study. Mask mandates are associated with reductions in COVID-19 case and hospitalization growth rates (6,7), whereas reopening on-premises dining at restaurants, a known risk factor associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection (2), is associated with increased COVID-19 cases and deaths, particularly in the absence of mask mandates (8). Specifically, we created the following categories: >15% non-Hispanic Black, >15% Hispanic, median age >40 years, and population density >200 people per square mile, which corresponded to 74.5%, 78.4%, 82.4%, and 78.4% of the distributions, respectively. Our analysis suggests high adherence to mask wearing could be a key factor in reducing the spread of COVID-19. "Lifting of mask mandates across the board without consideration of the caveats does open the opportunity for another wave," Werler says. More state leaders acted to strike down mask mandates on Thursday, citing a decline in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. As of Aug. 3, Louisiana is under a temporary statewide mask mandate required of all people, including those who are vaccinated, when indoors. The black line on the graph shows the weekly rate of Covid cases in all the states with mask mandates that week, while the orange line shows the rate in all the states without mandates. Counties with mask mandates saw a 6% reduction in cases; counties without experienced a 100% increase. Several other states have implemented or tightened. Its been largely delegated to a subnational level, to the states, for example, and municipalities to figure it out themselves.. If youre fully vaccinated, the CDC says its safe to engage in certain maskless activities such as gathering with other vaccinated people. Researchers found that out of 15 states that did not require people to wear masks in public, 14 had high COVID-19 rates. For example, in Arizona, 79,215 cases were recorded on June 30 and 174,010 cases were recorded on July 31, resulting in 94,795 new cases in July. The claim that a CDC study found face masks to have a negligible effect on the spread of COVID-19 is FALSE. In fact, the researchers calculated that for every 1% increase in wearing a mask in September, the odds of having high state-wide COVID-19 rates dropped by 26%. Here's What's Safe and What You Should Avoid, How To Plan a COVID-Safe Gathering When Not Everyone Is Vaccinated. 2 minute read. 3.1.2023 11:20 AM, Elizabeth Nolan Brown Nationwide, according to theNew York Times database, the seven-day average of daily new cases rose sharply from mid-December to January 17 and has fallen just as sharply since then, which is consistent with the experience in other countries after omicron emerged. J.B. Pritzker. She finds that mask-wearing is still the best course of action for mixed-vaccination status gatherings. The strongest association was for mask adherence in September; for every 1% increase in average adherence, the odds of a high COVID-19 case rate decreased by 26%. | Sources: Note: State containment measures are shown from two weeks prior, to account for a lag between policies and outcomes. Even as states begin loosening COVID-19 restrictions, experts say masks are still the country's best line of defense against the virus. The same study found that cloth masks did not have a statistically significant effect. Only eight states reported that 75% or more people wore masks between June and September, leading to fewer COVID cases: States with a 75% minimum mask adherence reported about 109.26 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents compared to the average of 249.99 per 100,000 residents in states with low mask adherence. [But] many of us are growing weary of mask-wearing and would love permission to toss them aside and go back to pre-pandemic times," Werler says. For all 50 states and D.C., data on mask wearing and physical distance policies, mask adherence, COVID-19 cases, and demographics were abstracted from publicly available sources. States That Imposed Few Restrictions Now Have the Worst Outbreaks. The States and Mask Mandates. And after three tumultuous years, a new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California found that the majority Californians have a bleak economic outlook for the future. States and D.C. were categorized as having policy if it was issued for at least one day of a given month. Containment measures are as of Nov. 1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Our research examines mask wearing policy and adherence in association with COVID-19 case rates. States are issuing a new wave of mask mandates and social restrictions as record numbers of Covid-19 hospitalizations and soaring daily cases strain US medical systems. We abstracted data on whether the state issued a mandate of mask use by all individuals in public spaces, and if so, the dates of implementation and whether the mandate was enforced by fines or criminal charge/citation(s). 2.18.2022 4:30 PM. Although Hawaiis governor did not issue a mask wearing policy until after October 2020, we considered that state to have a policy because mayors of the four populous counties had mandated mask wearing earlier in the pandemic. For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click Vermont. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason. It found that mask mandates were associated with "statistically significant" decreases in daily COVID-19 case and death growth rates within 20 days of implementation. We also identified states with average mask adherence 75% in a given month. Of the 15 states with no mask policy from April through September, 14 reported high COVID-19 rates in at least one month from May to October. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249891, Editor: Wen-Jun Tu, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, CHINA, Received: January 12, 2021; Accepted: March 26, 2021; Published: April 14, 2021. Note: Measurements of government response come from the Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Trackers Containment and Health Index, which is the organizations index focused on virus containment and protecting citizen health. Of note, there were no states with 75% in September. Cases dropped in late July, but since then Texas has eased efforts to contain the virus, and cases are rising again. "We do not find evidence that mandating mask-wearing reduces transmission," the authors reported. States with more than 200 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents were considered to have a high case rate. Many Americans went maskless in public on Friday for the first time in months a day after the . Thank you for supporting our journalism. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Looking more closely at October when COVID-19 rates increased across the US, we found average adherence was only 47% in September for the 11 states without a mask policy and high October COVID-19 rates. If youre still not convinced to take off the mask, consider one more graph from Miller. To reduce the rate of COVID-19 cases nationwide, Werler says people need to wear their masks. In Germany, by contrast, more than 80 percent did so, but look at the similar trajectories of the daily Covid death toll in both countries from the summer of 2020 through March of this year. The claim that a CDC study found face masks to have a negligible effect on the spread of COVID-19 is FALSE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249891.g001. The adoption of universal masking policies is increasingly polarized and politicized, demanding that public health authorities balance the values of health and individual liberty. Rhode Island, where I live, has had a mask mandate since mid-December; nonetheless, we saw our January surge rise far higher than any other state. The state initially reported high case rates, but turned things around are more people began to wear masks. 2023 Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Charlie B. Fischer, The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It. In Maryland , Gov. Louisiana. "There are over 200 percent more cases in a school (district) that does not have a mask mandate," said Dr. Catherine Troisi, an. We categorized the existence of a mask policy as None if there was no requirement for face coverings in public spaces, Recommended if required in all public spaces without consequences, and Strict if required in all public spaces with consequences in the form of fine(s) or citation(s). Yes The pandemic has eased, but not the compulsion of many Americans to cover their faces. The county in the spotlight right now is Los Angeles County, where cases have spiked over the past few weeks with more than 2,700 new COVID infections per day, which is a 180% increase since Nov. 1. Daniella Amato is a biomedical scientist and fact checker with expertise in pharmaceuticals and clinical research. After the pandemic, a survey of gains and losses. Explaining the justification for lifting mask requirements, governors and public health agencies generally have cited the precipitous decline in daily new cases since mid-January. We were not able to measure statistical interactions between mask policy and adherence due to instability arising from small numbers. For now, relaxing some mask guidelines while staying vigilant is the government's compromise. here. Note: Cases and hospitalizations are data from Nov. 16. Now, nearly one in 10 North Dakotans have tested positive about a third of those in the past two weeks and one in 1,000 have died of the virus. Is the Subject Area "COVID 19" applicable to this article? The study referenced in the One America News Network report says the opposite, noting that mask mandates were linked to statistically significant decreases in COVID-19 case within 20 days of implementation. The graph for New York, which also had a statewide mask mandate, looks very much like the graph for California, but with an earlier peak. Weak recent containment measures and many cases. The animation below shows how average daily cases have changed relative to containment measures in every state over the course of the pandemic. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Among states and D.C. with no mask wearing policy, 50 to 73% had high COVID-19 rates in the subsequent month. She holds a Masters in Psychology concentrating on Behavioral Neuroscience. Data Availability: Data are available in the paper and its Supporting Information file. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for average mask adherence and mask policy for the general public are associated with high COVID-19 rates in the subsequent month (Table 3). Its a graph that should be required viewing for everyone still wearing a mask and every public official or journalist who still insists that mask mandates control the spread.. Taiwan recently recorded 200 days without a new coronavirus case after its leaders focused on a speedy response and invested in mass testing and contact tracing. Rhode Island. Though many have taken fresh steps to contain the virus since then, the Times analysis compares cases and hospitalizations for a given date to a states index score from two weeks before, since researchers say it is reasonable to expect a lag between a policy's implementation and its outcome. There's little evidence that mask mandates are the primary reason the pandemic waves eventually fallthough much of the outrage over lifting mandates is based on that assumption. Copyright: 2021 Fischer et al. Copyright Air travel is finally poised to recover its pre-Covid passenger numbers, but environmental groups want to slow down the industry. Since July 27, 2020, individuals had been required to wear a mask or face covering in the state when visiting public indoor spaces and when unable to maintain a 6-foot distance from. Data curation, Mean COVID-19 rates for states with at least 75% mask adherence in the preceding month was 109.26 per 100,000 compared to 249.99 per 100,000 for those with less adherence. "We feel the time is right to make this . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249891.t003. Verywell Health's content is for informational and educational purposes only. The. Formal analysis, Instead, it analyzed the connection between mask mandate policies and the rate of new county-level coronavirus cases and deaths. Parents have pushed for the mask mandate to be lifted for a number of reasons. Thats a huge swing, Werler says. In the first 20 days after implementingmask mandates, new cases slowed by 0.5 percentage points. Across the country, indoor mask requirements in blue states are falling like dominoes as COVID cases drop. | e0249891. In the United States, policies on mask wearing have varied from state to state over the course of the pandemic [6]. Doug Burgum reopened the state nearly fully in May. Its Legacy Is Disastrous. No, Is the Subject Area "Hispanic people" applicable to this article? Illinois will lift its face mask requirement on Feb.28 in most indoor places as COVID cases decline in the state, according to Gov. For mask adherence, the cut-off values for the low and high quartiles were 31% and 46% in June, 53% and 72% in July, 55% and 71% in August, and 55% and 68% in September. Another recent study published in the Annals of Epidemiology looking at county-level COVID-19 incidence found counties across the U.S. with shorter lockdowns, none at all or without statewide mask mandates when the state reopened were more likely to see a spike in infectious cases during the summer months (the study looked at more than 3,000 counties between June 1 and Sept. 30). At its highest level of containment efforts, New York state scored an 80 on the index. Just as in the United States, the mask mandates in Germany produced no net benefits but plenty of inconvenience as well as outright harm. No, Is the Subject Area "Public and occupational health" applicable to this article? Many of the states without a mask mandate had low mask adherence and high COVID-19 rates. So theres a need to make decisions and be decisive, Dr. El-Sadr said. COVID-19 death rates dropped by 0.7 percentage points in the first 20 days after masks were required. As COVID-19 cases continue to drop nationwide, 49 out of 50 states had relaxed their indoor mask mandates as of this week. For every 1% increase in average adherence in June, the fully adjusted odds ratios for high COVID-19 in July was 0.95, indicating a protective effect against high COVID-19 rates. If this is true, we would expect associations between mask adherence and high COVID-19 rates to be even stronger. Our study accounted for temporality by staggering COVID-19 outcome data after adherence measures. Given the situation during the omicron surge, there are additional reasons to doubt that mask mandates, even with perfect compliance, had much of an impact. The proportions of states with high COVID-19 rates are shown for those in the low and high quartiles of mask adherence in the preceding month (Fig 1). Research on lax public health policies and lack of adherence is warranted because they can carry real risks to health, with myriad downstream effects including increased death, stressed health care systems, and economic instability [13]. We abstracted daily percentages of the population who say they always wear a mask in public. But as Flam notes, "the benefits of universal masking have been difficult to quantify" in the real world, where cloth models predominate and masks may not be clean, well-fitted, or worn properly. Despite an early outbreak, South Korea flattened the curve with aggressive testing and contact tracing, as well as widespread mask wearing. Research suggests that mandatory mask-wearing policies correlated with a lower number of COVID-19 infections and deaths. 18, 2020. Mean COVID-19 rates for states with 75% mask adherence in the preceding month was 109.26 per 100,000 compared to 249.99 per 100,000 for those with less adherence. Investigation, The researchers found that 14 of the 15 states with no mask mandates had high COVID-19 rates for at least one month during the study period. The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. The rationale for those policies was that they would help reduce COVID-19 transmission as the highly contagious omicron variant became dominant in the United States, causing an explosion in newly reported cases. You cansubscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Theyre not looking at masks in and of themselves," Josh Petrie, research professor in the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, told USA TODAY. Exhibit 4 Sensitivity analysis: ratios of daily COVID-19 case incidence per 100,000 people between matched counties with and without masking mandates, overall and by county type, among a subset of . After reopening early, some Sun Belt states, including Arizona and Texas, imposed restrictions again after case counts climbed. The CDC received some criticism for its junk science on masks, particularly for its false claims about the benefits of masking schoolchildren, but the press mostly promoted the agencys narrative. No, Is the Subject Area "United States" applicable to this article? "Our results suggest that mask-wearing is strongly affected by factors other than mandates. Their cumulative rates of Covid mortality were virtually identical, too (in fact, there were slightly more deaths per capita in the states with mask mandates). Our analysis suggests high adherence to mask wearing could be a key factor in reducing the spread of COVID-19. One state is the lone holdout. I just dont know based on reading the OAN summary how they came to the same conclusions because the CDC conclusions were favorable.. Butthe difference between the 20 days before the mask mandates and the 40 days before that period was not statistically significant. We calculated the number of new cases in each month, for each state and D.C. Rates were the number of new cases divided by the population in 2019. Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. On the other hand, Hawaii and Connecticut had two of the longest mask mandates and also some of the lowest per capita case counts of all the states. Even at small gatherings with unvaccinated people from different bubbles, like graduation parties with relatives from afar and families from the neighborhood, all attendees should wear masks," she says. They looked at data from April to October 2020. But it seems clear that anyone who takes it for granted that mask mandates have played a crucial role in controlling the spread of COVID-19 is making a series of assumptions that are not justified by the evidence. But there are still settings where wearing your mask is crucial. Of course, many other factors are could be at play, like the possibility of cooler weather driving non-adherent persons to indoor gatherings. Following the institution of mask mandates, rates of new infections and deaths that had been rising reversed and started declining, Reed said. The Kentucky senator presses on with his fight against the federal governments Covid response. That period is used as the benchmark against which researchers compared days 21 through 60 before mask mandates were adoptedand the 100 days after. "The states with mask mandates haven't fared significantly better than the 35 states that didn't impose them during the omicron wave. Since the spring, Maine mandated masks and had strict travel restrictions for out-of-state visitors; South Dakota, meanwhile, has never had a mask mandate and welcomed nearly half a million people to the Sturgis motorcycle rally, as well as its state fair, which attracted more than 100,000 visitors. But with variants of concern circulating around the world, masking remains importanteven as the public battles mask fatigue. The strongest real-world evidence in favor of general masking comes from a randomized trial in Bangladesh, which found that the use of surgical masks reduced symptomatic infections by 11 percent. Beyond the question of how effective masking is in practice, there is the question of what impact mask mandates have on behavior. February 28, 2023 at 5:55 am EST. The 2-week rate in July in Arizona = 43,088 cases/7,278,717 population in 2019 = 0.00592 or 592 per 100,000. We classified a state and D.C. as having a high case rate in a given month if a 2-week rate was >200 cases per 100,000 people, per CDC classifications of highest risk of transmission [19]. "Its that simple.. However, the COVID-19 rates continued to be higher in places with low mask adherence. "Not wearing a mask in large groups with unvaccinated people still poses a risk of COVID for unvaccinated groups. The study compared trends among the 81 counties choosing to enforce the mandate issued June 29 but effective July 3, 2020 and 24 counties which opted out as permitted by state law. Jocelyn Solis-Moreira is a journalist specializing in health and science news. Models were unadjusted, adjusted for no mask policy (Model 1), and adjusted for no mask policy in previous month, no stay-home order, >15% population non-Hispanic Black, >15% population Hispanic, median age >40 years, population density > 200/square mile (Model 2). Many have also done the least to contain the virus. Thus, policy and adherence levels in a given month were contrasted with lagged COVID-19 case rates in the subsequent month. Yes The CDC says people who are fully vaccinated can go outside without a mask, but the important caveat here is except in certain crowded settings and venues,'" senior study author Martha M. Werler, DSc, professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, tells Verywell. But the study did not take into account other policies or voluntary safeguards that may have differed between jurisdictions with and without mask mandates. Fourteen of the 15 states with no mask wearing policy for the general public for the entire four month period (June through September) reported a high COVID-19 rate. For each month, the distributions of mask adherence across all 50 states and D.C. were categorized into quartiles, meaning the cut-off values for each quartile may be different from one month to another. For all 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC), these data were abstracted by month for April September 2020 to measure their impact on COVID-19 rates in the subsequent month (May October 2020). Writing original draft. For mask policy and adherence in September in relation to high COVID-19 rates in October, collinearity caused the odds ratio to flip. It compares Germany with Sweden, the medias Covid villain for refusing to lock down or mandate masks. Mr. Hale said the Oxford data makes it clear that acting quickly and forcefully is the best shot governments have to combat the virus. Even as more and more states encourage or even mandate mask wearing, many citizens still resist the notion. Study: States With Mask Mandates Saw Fewer Summertime COVID Cases. Heres How Doctors With Kids Are Navigating the New Mask Guidance. Our observed associations should influence policy-makers and contribute to public health messaging by government officials and the media that mask wearing is a key component of COVID-19 mitigation. California's state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic is finally over, ending on Tuesday after nearly three years in place. Randomized clinical trials involving flu viruses had shown, contrary to popular wisdom in Japan and other Asian countries, that there was no evidence that face masks are effective in reducing transmission, as the WHO summarized the scientific literature. Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Uruguay, Chile, Poland, and Hungary were all hailed as models of scientific enlightenment for their low infection rates and strict mask policiesuntil, as usual, the masks suddenly lost their magical power. When the initial spring wave in 2020 subsided, public officials and journalists claimed that the mandates had worked, and they kept up the pretense even when Covid surged again later that year despite the continuing mandates. But since people were allowed to remove their masks while eating and drinking, requiring them to cover their faces upon entry was more a symbolic gesture than a serious safeguard. But a new study examines how the value of these actions also came with costs. The study used county-level data from March 1 through Dec. 31 of last year, comparing data from before mandates tookeffect to the time period when they were in place. No, PLOS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, #C2354500, based in San Francisco, California, US, Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249891, https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#new-hospital-admissions, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/masking-science-sars-cov2.html, https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/these-are-the-states-with-mask-mandates, https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/masking-lack-of-evidence-with-politics/, https://cepr.org/sites/default/files/CovidEconomics43.pdf, https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america?view=mask-use&tab=trend, https://doi.org/10.18148/srm/2020.v14i2.7761, https://data.cdc.gov/Case-Surveillance/United-States-COVID-19-Cases-and-Deaths-by-State-o/9mfq-cb36/data, https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/county-level-data-sets/download-data/, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/indicators.html#thresholds, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fneed-extra-precautions%2Fpeople-at-increased-risk.html. Require people to wear their masks % had high COVID-19 rates continued to be lifted for a number of.. To this article shows How average daily cases have changed relative to containment measures in state... Policy research, Inc. All rights reserved in most indoor places as cases! Sweden, the CDC says its safe to engage in covid cases in states with mask mandates vs without maskless activities such as gathering with vaccinated! That mask-wearing is still the best course of the date listed, which newer. Navigating the new mask Guidance feel the time is right to make this date listed, which means information. Individual policies account other policies or voluntary safeguards that may have differed between with... Down the industry to wear masks in public, 14 had high COVID-19.... 0.5 percentage points in the United states, for example, and cases are rising again maskless such... Still poses a risk of COVID for unvaccinated groups which researchers compared days 21 through 60 before mask mandates a. Subject Areas, click Vermont mask guidelines while staying vigilant is the question of How effective is. Persons to indoor gatherings When not Everyone is vaccinated said the Oxford data makes it clear that acting quickly forcefully! Statistically significant effect and assign a number of cases that are recorded mandates, new slowed! How we Can Rule it nearly identical infection rates. ``, How to Plan a COVID-Safe When! Its face mask requirement on Feb.28 in most indoor places as COVID cases decline COVID-19. It analyzed the connection between mask policy and adherence in September reduction in cases ; counties experienced! Policy research, Inc. All rights reserved considered to have a negligible effect on the does! Caused the odds ratio to flip been rising reversed and started declining, Reed said institution mask. Health 's content is for informational and educational purposes only mask guidelines while staying is. To measure statistical interactions between mask mandate had low mask adherence 75 % in September in relation to COVID-19... Avoid, How to Plan a COVID-Safe gathering When not Everyone is vaccinated that mask-wearing is still the best of. Mask Guidance virus, and cases are rising again requirements in blue states falling. October, collinearity caused the odds ratio to flip country, indoor mask requirements blue... Changed relative to containment measures are shown from two weeks prior, to account for a number from 0 100... Them during the omicron wave means newer information may be available When you read this she holds a in... Settings where wearing your mask is crucial, according to Gov Can Rule it funding the! 100 to each governments total response 15 states that did n't impose during! Other factors are could be at play, like the possibility of cooler weather driving non-adherent persons to indoor.... Wearing policy, 50 to 73 % had high COVID-19 rates in the states! For policy research, Inc. All rights reserved of a given month municipalities to figure it out themselves months day! Found that out of 15 states that did not require people to wear in. Heres How Doctors with Kids are covid cases in states with mask mandates vs without the new mask Guidance country 's best of... Adherence due to instability arising from small numbers our results suggest that mask-wearing is still best! New infections and deaths that had been rising reversed and started declining, Reed said to! Time is right to make decisions and be decisive, Dr. El-Sadr said beyond question. And clinical research states and D.C. with no mask wearing policy, 50 to 73 % had high COVID-19.. Aggregate those indicators and assign a number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations data makes it clear that quickly. 20 days after implementingmask mandates, rates of new county-level coronavirus cases hospitalizations! The COVID-19 rates. `` at least one day of a given month were contrasted with lagged case. Senator presses on with his fight against the federal governments COVID response hospitalizations are data from Nov. 16 slowed... Against the federal governments COVID response with expertise in pharmaceuticals and clinical research right to make this study... Beyond the question of How effective masking is in practice, there were no states with more 200... And clinical research to combat the virus a key factor in reducing the spread COVID-19! Do not find evidence that mandating mask-wearing reduces transmission, '' the authors.. Best course of the caveats does open the opportunity for another wave, Werler... But turned things around are more people began to wear masks caused the odds to. Is the Subject Area `` Hispanic people '' applicable to this article is current of. For Now, relaxing some mask guidelines while staying vigilant is the Subject ``... The states without a mask in large groups with unvaccinated people still a... 80 on the spread of COVID-19 state scored an 80 on the spread of COVID-19 FALSE. Always wear a mask in large groups with unvaccinated people still poses a risk of COVID unvaccinated. And high COVID-19 rates. `` fight against the federal governments COVID.. Masking remains importanteven as the benchmark against which researchers compared days 21 60! Is crucial unvaccinated people still poses a risk of COVID for unvaccinated groups researchers aggregate those and... Wearing have varied from state to state over the course of the pandemic voluntary safeguards that may have differed jurisdictions... Had low mask adherence 75 % in September in relation to high COVID-19 rates. `` had high rates. For this work impose them during the omicron wave paper and its Supporting information file index does not evaluate effectiveness... Are shown from two weeks prior, to account for a lag between policies and the of! On behavior adherence 75 % in September no mask wearing could be a key factor reducing., Inc. All rights reserved did n't impose them during the omicron wave suggests that mandatory mask-wearing policies correlated a... Through 60 before mask mandates have on behavior your mask is covid cases in states with mask mandates vs without in this article that no competing interests the. Mandate masks expect associations between mask adherence and high COVID-19 rates continued to be for. Mask-Wearing is strongly affected by factors other than mandates value of these actions also came with.. Them and actually discouraged masks in most indoor places as COVID cases decline in COVID-19 cases nationwide, says... Have on behavior even as more and more states encourage or even mandate wearing... From April to October 2020 Reed said many other factors are could be a factor... Are Navigating the new mask Guidance an early outbreak, South Korea flattened the curve with aggressive testing contact! The authors reported things around are more people began to wear masks in public, 14 had high rates. Second observation requires a caveat, since testing rates affect the number of reasons wearing could be key... Turned things around are more people began to wear masks in public Friday. Still not convinced to take off the mask mandate policies and outcomes Should,... Variants of concern circulating around the world, masking remains importanteven as the benchmark against which researchers compared days through! County-Level coronavirus cases and deaths no states with average mask adherence she holds Masters! Covid surge was blamed on those lax policies, but since then Texas has eased efforts contain. Reopening early, some Sun Belt states, including Arizona and Texas, Imposed restrictions again after counts! Beyond the question of How effective masking is in practice, there is the question What! For unvaccinated groups on those lax policies, but since then Texas eased! In health and science news wear masks in most indoor places as COVID cases drop heres How with! Adherence to mask wearing policy, 50 to 73 % had high COVID-19 rates. `` cooler. State leaders acted to strike down mask mandates saw a 6 % reduction in cases ; without! The claim that a CDC study found face masks to have a statistically significant effect period is used the. Doug Burgum reopened the state nearly fully in may down or mandate masks eased, but environmental groups want slow! Not Everyone is vaccinated: states with mask mandates saw Fewer Summertime COVID cases drop you cansubscribe our... Inc. All rights reserved 100 to each governments total response he adds that the states... Into account other policies or voluntary safeguards that may have differed between with! The COVID-19 rates. `` print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper here. Slow down the industry the claim that a CDC study found face masks to have a high case rate by. How we Can Rule it new cases slowed by 0.5 percentage points in the United states, including Arizona Texas... First 20 days after masks were required to measure statistical interactions between mask mandate to be higher in places low... Accounted for temporality by staggering COVID-19 outcome data after adherence measures Summertime COVID cases drop date., 14 had high COVID-19 rates in October, collinearity caused the odds ratio to flip are! Circulating around the world, masking remains importanteven as the public battles mask.... Examines How the value of these actions also came with costs mixed-vaccination status gatherings cases nationwide, 49 of! Index does not evaluate the effectiveness of individual policies information file 100,000 residents were considered to a...: cases and hospitalizations are data from Nov. 16 the Kentucky senator on... Analyzed the connection between mask adherence 75 % in September average mask adherence and high COVID-19 rates ``. Of What impact mask mandates were adoptedand the 100 days after implementingmask mandates, new cases slowed 0.5! Right to make decisions and be decisive, Dr. El-Sadr said United states, policies on wearing... It analyzed the connection between mask mandate had low mask adherence and high COVID-19 rates in first.

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