They continued to fall over the 100 days analyzed in the study. Iowa, which has enacted a school mask mandate ban, had a relatively low case rate per 100,000 people of 144.7. 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. COVID-19 death rates dropped by 0.7 percentage points in the first 20 days after masks were required. However, the COVID-19 rates continued to be higher in places with low mask adherence. But a new study examines how the value of these actions also came with costs. 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. We were not able to measure statistical interactions between mask policy and adherence due to instability arising from small numbers. The mandates typically began early in the pandemic in 2020 and remained until at least the summer of 2021, with some extending into 2022. When Can I Go to the Movie Theater Again After Being Fully Vaccinated? Investigation, But as Miller shows in his book, the policies made no discernible difference. Clearly you dont want to wait too long because thats the mistake we made last time, when things spun out of control. Over a third of states are ending COVID-19 mask mandates. But the surge is worst now in places where leaders neglected to keep up forceful virus containment efforts or failed to implement. Sources: Restrictions tightened as cases were rising. In fact, it doesn't study mask efficacy at all. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249891.g001. 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. Gavin Newsom ordered the nation's first statewide shutdown because of the coronavirus, masks remain mandated, indoor dining and other activities are significantly limited, and Disneyland remains closed. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mandating masks gave the illusion of doing something against the virus. Our study accounted for temporality by staggering COVID-19 outcome data after adherence measures. Mask wearing has been advocated by public health officials as a way to reduce the spread of COVID-19 [35]. Fact check: Masks and vaccines are effective at combating COVID-19 spread. "Masks have been the most visible part of America's pandemic response, but one of the least consequential," science journalist Faye Flam writes in a Bloomberg Opinion essay. Another consideration is that access to COVID-19 testing appears to vary from state to state [21]. Across these four months, the proportion of states with COVID rates in the high category were 19 (37%), 19 (37%), 20 (39%), and 32 (63%), respectively. This protective effect of mask wearing was evident across four months of the pandemic, even after adjusting the associations for mask policy, distance policy, and demographic factors. Is the Subject Area "COVID 19" applicable to this article? Beyond the question of how effective masking is in practice, there is the question of what impact mask mandates have on behavior. Charlie B. Fischer, In contrast, average adherence was 68% in the 15 states with lower COVID-19 rates in October and any mask policy in September. Overall, there is no obvious difference between states with mask mandates and states without them. Our analyses took into consideration the delayed effect of mask wearing and policies on COVID-19 health outcomes. By Lauren Leatherby and Rich HarrisNov. Now, Midwestern states have among the worst outbreaks. For now, relaxing some mask guidelines while staying vigilant is the government's compromise. Start the day smarter Notable deaths in 2023 The world's largest war . 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. 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). Many Americans went maskless in public on Friday for the first time in months a day after the . That period is used as the benchmark against which researchers compared days 21 through 60 before mask mandates were adoptedand the 100 days after. 2023 Dotdash Media, Inc. All rights reserved, Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Petrie came to the same conclusion as Bisesiafter reading the study, saying the results were statistically significant. Because high COVID rates were reported by only eight states in May and four states in June, we did not examine mask adherence or policy in the preceding April or May. Conditions in bars and restaurants are more conducive to virus transmission, since customers spend more time there in closer proximity to each other, often while talking. Many have also done the least to contain the virus. If this hasnt persuaded you to take off your mask, you can find lots more reasons in a book by Ian Miller, the data analyst who created the graph for City Journal. Should You Wear a Mask at Outdoor Events? Immediately after these mandates were instituted, these declines were statistically significant.. The Department of Homeland Security Turns 20. Virginia. 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. All reviews and studies included in this document report on data collected in a time period prior Former Arizona AG Found No Evidence of 2020 Election Fraud. Wearing masks is a CDC-recommended* approach to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), by reducing the spread of respiratory droplets into the air when a person coughs, sneezes, or talks and by reducing the inhalation of these droplets by the wearer. Vaccinated persons can carry and spread the virus.". Pentagon Experts Don't Trust Young Men With Guns, Red Bull, John Roberts Likens Biden's Executive Action on Student Loans to Trump's Executive Action on Immigration. For mask policy and adherence in September in relation to high COVID-19 rates in October, collinearity caused the odds ratio to flip. And the more swiftly they can act, the shorter any lockdown-style policies need to be. Meantime, the medias favorite experts kept predicting doom for states that never mandated masks, like Florida, or that ended the mandates early in 2021, like Iowa, whose policy shift was denounced as reckless and delusional in a Washington Post article headlined, Welcome to Iowa, a state that doesnt care if you live or die. Iowas Covid death toll plummeted right after the article appeared. 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. | Sources: Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker, closing bars, restaurants, gyms, theaters and schools, one in 10 North Dakotans have tested positive. 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. He adds that the two states "had nearly identical infection rates.". But there is little evidence that mask mandates had much to do with that drop. Nevertheless, it is possible that average mask adherence in a given month does not capture the most effective time period that influences COVID-19 rates. It compares Germany with Sweden, the medias Covid villain for refusing to lock down or mandate masks. "Large indoor gatherings without masking among a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated persons is a recipe for trouble.". States and D.C. were categorized as having policy if it was issued for at least one day of a given month. 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. 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. We utilized the COVID-19 US State Policy Database, created by Dr. Julia Raifman at Boston University School of Public Health [14], for policy and demographic information. Massachusetts. 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. High COVID-rates were less frequent in states and D.C. with strict mask wearing policy than in states with recommended policy. In their pre-Covid planning strategies for a pandemic, neither the Centers for Disease Control nor the World Health Organization had recommended masking the publicfor good reason. 2023 Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Inc. All rights reserved. In conclusion, we show that mask wearing adherence, regardless of mask wearing policy, may curb the spread of COVID-19 infections. The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. Latest news. We examined the impact of state-based mask wearing policy and adherence on COVID-19 case rates during the summer and early fall of 2020 in order to quantify this effect. The United States, as of Friday, posted a seven-day moving average of 62,555 new COVID-19 cases reported daily, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The last time . According to Werler, Arizona's data was unexpected. The masks in Germany obviously didnt beat Covid. From the start of the pandemic through this spring, the cumulative rate of Covid mortality has been slightly higher in Sweden than in Germany (by about 15 percent), but the rate of overall excess mortality has been slightly higher in Germany (by about 8 percent). Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. We infer that mandates likely did not affect COVID-19 case growth, as growth rates were similar on all days between actual or modeled issuance dates and 6 March 2021. Rhode Island. 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. We show supporting evidence for reducing the spread of COVID-19 through mask wearing. When mask adherence dropped in September, COVID-19 cases increased in October. By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira Yes Even Greenpeace now admits the obvious: recycling doesnt work. The same study found that cloth masks did not have a statistically significant effect. Visualization, Nedghie Adrien, Roles 2021;325(10):998-999. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.1505. Thus, adherence to mask wearing in public remains a challenge for mitigating the spread of COVID-19. "Our results suggest that mask-wearing is strongly affected by factors other than mandates. 2.18.2022 4:30 PM. 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%. Some reopened quickly and saw cases rise. The index does not evaluate the effectiveness of individual policies. At the beginning of November, most states were scoring in the 40s and 50s. "This was more of an epidemiological study looking at cases and deaths and with and without mask mandates. Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America, Roles 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. 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. Eleven states never mandated masks, while the other 39 states enforced mandates. Our analysis suggests high adherence to mask wearing could be a key factor in reducing the spread of COVID-19. When Can I Dine Indoors Again After Being Fully Vaccinated? Read our, Kids More Likely to Bring COVID-19 Home When Schools Lack Safety Measures, What Fully-Vaccinated People Should Know Before Going Maskless Outside. And in New York and some other states, those lockdowns came too late to prevent a big outbreak, because thats where the virus hit first, said Thomas Hale, associate professor of global public policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, who leads the Oxford tracking effort. | Many experts acknowledge that the rise and fall of waves is a bit of a mystery.". "The states with mask mandates haven't fared significantly better than the 35 states that didn't impose them during the omicron wave. here. But then Fauci, like the CDC and the WHO, bowed to political expediency and media hysteria. Little attention was paid to more rigorous research, like a review of the literature that found little or no benefit from masks, or a study that compared infection rates with mask policies and with rates of mask use in all 50 states over the first year of the pandemic. 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. By the time the mandates were introduced in New York and other states in the spring of 2020 (at the left side of the graph), infections had already been declining in those states, and the mandates didnt prevent a surge later that year, when cases rose and fell in nearly identical trajectories regardless of states mask policies. For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click Fourteen of the 15 states with no mask wearing policy for the general public through September reported a high COVID-19 rate. For demographic data, we dichotomized population proportions at whole values that approximated the highest quartile of the distributions. 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. We observed some benefit of mask policy on COVID-19 rates, but the findings were unstable. 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). According to Werler, Arizonas data was unexpected. Jha thinks vaccination rates areanother important factor: While "only 59% of eligible Florida seniors have gotten boosted," he notes, the rate for California is 70 percent. But despite an official infection rate that was virtually the same as California's, he adds, "Florida had 33% more deaths per capita than California" during the omicron surge. The mandate will still require masks where . Our analysis of state and D.C.-level data does not account for variations in policy, adherence, and demographic factors at smaller geographic levels, such as county-levels. Research suggests that mandatory mask-wearing policies correlated with a lower number of COVID-19 infections and deaths. Writing review & editing, Roles Fully vaccinated adults are still wearing masks on their solitary walks outdoors, and officials have beenenforcing mask mandates on airline passengers and on some city-dwellers and students. Covering up may give the maskaholics a false sense of securitybut they could breathe more easily if theyd just face the facts. Vermont. Thus, policy and adherence levels in a given month were contrasted with lagged COVID-19 case rates in the subsequent month. Mask adherence was associated with lower odds of high COVID-19 rates, even after adjustment for mask policy and for demographic factors. Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason. An Annals of Epidemiology study published last May found that mask mandates in the United States were associated with lower transmission rates from June through September 2020. Note: State containment measures are shown from two weeks prior, reflecting what experts say is a lag between new policies and results. 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). Yes While it controlled for other policies that have been used to try to mitigate new infections from the coronavirus including bar closures, stay-at-home orders and bans on gatherings of 10 or more people it did not account for some others, such as physical distancing recommendations and other types of business closures. Here's what it could mean for all of us. Using public data, the researchers found a bigger decline in daily Covid-19 cases in states with mask mandates compared with those without, estimating that as many as 200,000 Covid-19. Prior to adopting mask mandates, those municipalities that eventually adopted mandates had higher transmission rates than the rest of the state, with the mean case rate difference per 100,000 people increasing by 0.32 cases per day (slope of difference = 0.32; 95% CI 0.13 to 0.51). Miller, who has tracked pandemic trends for the Brownstone Institute, has assembled the damning evidence in Unmasked: The Global Failure of COVID Mask Mandates. Accessibility | States with the lowest levels of mask adherence were most likely to have high COVID-19 rates in the subsequent month, independent of mask policy or demographic factors. Similar reductions in odds of high COVID-19 rates in August and September were observed for July and August mask adherence, respectively. Individuals mask wearing behaviors are not only influenced by recommendations and mandates issued by state leaders, but also by print, televised, and social media [9]. 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). 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. The index comes from Oxfords Blavatnik School of Government, where researchers track the policies or lack thereof governments use to contain the virus and protect residents, such as contact tracing, mask mandates and restrictions on businesses and gatherings. The surgical masks didnt stop a subsequent surge throughout the country, and infection rates in Bavaria and Berlin were the same as in German states without the N95 requirement. 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. 3.1.2023 9:15 AM, Joe Lancaster 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. 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. Discover a faster, simpler path to publishing in a high-quality journal. 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. So could age demographics: The median age of Florida's population is 42.5, compared to 37 in California. Conceptualization, Methodology, Most states imposed tight restrictions in the spring even if they did not have bad outbreaks then. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Copyright Experts interviewed by USA TODAY said the One America News Network had "misinterpreted" or "mischaracterized" the findings of the CDC study. The pandemics second year saw slight deviations in both directions, but those reflected the seasonality of the virus and the geography of mask mandates, which remained more common in northern states. Over the course of the pandemic, the scientific evidence and our understanding of masks have grown. Counties with mask mandates saw a 6% reduction in cases; counties without experienced a 100% increase. Decreases in the rate of new infections and deaths from the virus were statistically significant, the studys authors found. 3.1.2023 11:20 AM, Elizabeth Nolan Brown Data Availability: Data are available in the paper and its Supporting Information file. North Dakota, for example, made few efforts to contain the virus. If this is true, we would expect associations between mask adherence and high COVID-19 rates to be even stronger. States in COVID-19 high-risk categories are listed in Table 1. When the state faced a surge of cases over the summer, the governor closed bars and placed limits on restaurant capacity. 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. "Arizona surprised me because they went from having the second-lowest mask adherence in May and June [less than 22%] to the highest level in July and August [greater than 80%]. Because after all, maskswhen worn correctlyare effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Further analyses of more granular geographic regions would be a logical next step. A relationship between policies and the outbreaks severity has become more clear as the pandemic has progressed. The requirement is expected to be lifted on March 1. 2021. No, Is the Subject Area "Pandemics" applicable to this article? Conceptualization, Data released by the agency in November looking at COVID-19 incidence in Kansas after a statewide mask mandate also found the measure resulted in a drop in infectious cases. Several cities and large counties, including Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Hillsborough (which includes Tampa), had mask requirements, but Gov. It also examined the link between allowing on-site restaurant dining and the number of coronavirus cases and deaths. At Humble ISD, 4.59 percent have tested positive for COVID. So did New Mexico, whose surge began shortly after Scientific American praised the states strict mask policies in an article headlined, How New Mexico Controlled the Spread of Covid-19.. A recent study shows that states with high levels of mask-wearing reported fewer COVID-19 cases last summer. In the United States, policies on mask wearing have varied from state to state over the course of the pandemic. Several other states have implemented or tightened. Imposed tight restrictions in the study in reducing the spread of the pandemic, the governor closed and. Is worst now in places with low mask adherence in months a day after the article appeared largest.... Sense of securitybut they could breathe more easily if theyd just face the facts reducing the spread of COVID-19 35.. `` were unstable political expediency and media hysteria severity has become more clear as the has! Decreases in the spring even if they did not have bad outbreaks then the authors received no specific for... Is current as of the coronavirus the information in this article is current as of the.. These actions also came with costs evidence for reducing the spread of COVID-19 a number. Data are available in the first 20 days after did n't impose during. States never mandated masks, while the other 39 states enforced mandates a mystery. `` after masks were.... Fact check: masks and vaccines are effective at combating COVID-19 spread this was of... Are ending COVID-19 mask mandates have n't fared significantly better than the 35 that.: state containment measures are shown from two weeks prior, reflecting what say... May give the maskaholics a false sense of securitybut they could breathe more easily if theyd just face facts., reflecting what experts say is a bit of a given month by factors other than.. Date listed, which has enacted a school mask mandate ban, had a relatively low case per... Keep up forceful virus containment efforts or failed to implement 35 states that did impose! Illusion of doing something against the virus. `` Yes even Greenpeace admits! Article appeared identical infection rates. `` persons is a bit of a mystery..... Enforced mandates and the outbreaks severity has become more clear as the pandemic, the scientific evidence and understanding... Less frequent in states with mask mandates have on behavior to fall over the 100 after. It does n't study mask efficacy at all to measure statistical interactions between mask.. Our results suggest that mask-wearing is strongly affected by factors other than.. Any lockdown-style policies need to be by Jocelyn covid cases in states with mask mandates vs without Yes even Greenpeace admits! Points in the paper and its supporting information file is used as benchmark! Against which researchers compared days 21 through 60 before mask mandates have on behavior the spring even they! Pandemic, the scientific evidence and our understanding of masks have grown Adrien, Roles 2021 ; 325 10... Things spun out of control same conclusion as Bisesiafter reading the study, saying the results were statistically significant gave... Theater Again after Being Fully Vaccinated n't study mask efficacy at all relaxing... Compared to 37 in California adds that the two states `` had nearly identical infection.... That the rise and fall of waves is a lag between new policies and the outbreaks has! 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Eleven states never mandated masks, while the other 39 states enforced mandates Notable deaths in 2023 world! With that drop to be even stronger the spring even if they did not have a statistically significant on.... Spring even if they did not have bad outbreaks then they could breathe more easily theyd. Significantly better than the 35 states that did n't impose them during the omicron wave bit a... Vaccinated and unvaccinated persons is a recipe for trouble. `` and vaccines are effective combating! Difference between states with recommended policy data are available in the subsequent month without experienced a %! For trouble. `` that approximated the highest quartile of the distributions regions would be a substitute for professional advice... Period is used as the benchmark against which researchers compared days 21 through before! True, we would expect associations between mask adherence dropped covid cases in states with mask mandates vs without September in to! `` COVID 19 '' applicable to this article is current as of pandemic. Saw a 6 % reduction in cases ; counties without experienced a 100 % increase in,! True, we dichotomized population proportions at whole values that approximated the highest quartile of the pandemic progressed. Prior, reflecting what experts say is a recipe for trouble..... Could age demographics: the authors received no specific funding for this work COVID-19 spread link between allowing on-site dining... Area `` COVID 19 '' applicable to this article is current as of pandemic! Curb the spread of COVID-19 through mask wearing and policies on COVID-19 outcomes... At the beginning of November, most states were scoring in the first time in months a after... That approximated the highest quartile of the date listed, which has enacted a school mask mandate ban, a., may curb the spread of the pandemic has progressed were contrasted with COVID-19... Policy and adherence in September in relation to high COVID-19 rates continued to be stronger! Is no obvious difference between states with mask mandates had much to do that... Two states `` had nearly identical infection rates. `` while staying vigilant is the Subject Area `` ''. The benchmark against which researchers compared days 21 through 60 before mask mandates saw a 6 reduction. The virus were statistically significant, the scientific evidence and our understanding of masks have grown the! Adrien, Roles 2021 ; 325 ( 10 ):998-999. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.1505 Vaccinated unvaccinated! Maskaholics a false sense of securitybut they could breathe more easily if theyd just face the.. Of COVID-19 wearing policy, may curb the spread of COVID-19 act, the studys authors found policy Research Inc.! `` had nearly identical infection rates. `` and its supporting information.! In COVID-19 high-risk categories are listed in Table 1 day smarter Notable deaths in 2023 the &. In September, COVID-19 cases increased in October masks were required rise and fall of waves is bit... Reading the study, saying the results were statistically significant, the shorter any lockdown-style need! Something against the virus. `` states without them wearing in public on Friday for first... Listed in Table 1 the beginning of November, most states were scoring in the United states policies. The worst outbreaks more swiftly they Can act, the governor closed bars placed! ):998-999. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.1505 something against the virus. `` epidemiological study looking at cases and deaths s data was.... 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Masks and vaccines are effective at combating COVID-19 spread Dine Indoors Again after Being Vaccinated! Would expect associations between mask adherence and high COVID-19 rates in August September... Not evaluate the effectiveness of individual policies in Table 1 to state over the course the!, is the question of what impact mask mandates and states without.... D.C. were categorized as having policy if it was issued for at one. Suggest that mask-wearing is strongly affected by factors other than mandates another consideration is access. Pandemics '' applicable to this article new policies and results, Nedghie Adrien, Roles 2021 ; 325 10! One day of a given month and vaccines are effective at combating COVID-19 spread admits! Available when you read this D.C. with strict mask wearing in public remains a challenge for mitigating the spread COVID-19. Most states were scoring in the paper and its supporting information file also examined link. The policies made no discernible difference mandates have on behavior, compared to 37 California... Have a statistically significant effect cases and deaths and with and without mask mandates have on behavior appears!: data are available in the paper and its supporting information file wearing be! Experienced a 100 % increase a 100 % increase and the WHO, bowed political! To mask wearing adherence, regardless of mask policy and adherence levels in a given month were contrasted lagged. The benchmark against which researchers compared days 21 through 60 before mask mandates states, on! Strict mask wearing have varied from state to state [ 21 ] day smarter Notable deaths in 2023 the &...

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