Is the Subject Area "COVID 19" applicable to this article? Like the debate about lockdowns, the debate about mask mandates will continue. | Sources: Note: State containment measures are shown from two weeks prior, to account for a lag between policies and outcomes. Of course, many other factors are could be at play, like the possibility of cooler weather driving non-adherent persons to indoor gatherings. 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 youre still not convinced to take off the mask, consider one more graph from Miller. 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. 3.1.2023 2:50 PM, David McGarry Mast mandates may be back on the table for states where the number of COVID cases are once again causing serious alarm for health officials. 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. 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. We thank Drs. Note: State containment measures are shown from two weeks prior, reflecting what experts say is a lag between new policies and results. But a new study examines how the value of these actions also came with costs. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Swedens initial Covid surge was blamed on those lax policies, but Sweden stuck to them and actually discouraged masks in most situations. 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. But the surge is worst now in places where leaders neglected to keep up forceful virus containment efforts or failed to implement. The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. 18, 2020. Should You Wear a Mask at Outdoor Events? | J.B. Pritzker. Methodology, For the period of April 1 through October 31, 2020, less than half of states had issued a mandate for mask wearing in public and nearly a third had not made any recommendation. Instead, it links mask mandates to statistically significant decreases in county-level daily COVID-19 case and death growth rates within 20 days of implementation.. 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. Of the 20 states with the highest per capita case counts, 30% (six states) never enacted mask mandates, according to data from the New York Times. But "few studies assessed compliance to mask wearing policies or controlled for the possible influence of other preventive measures such as hand hygiene and physical distancing.". States and D.C. were categorized as having policy if it was issued for at least one day of a given month. Discover a faster, simpler path to publishing in a high-quality journal. Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. She holds a Masters in Psychology concentrating on Behavioral Neuroscience. Study: States With Mask Mandates Saw Fewer Summertime COVID Cases. "Unfortunately, the virus hasnt gone away and is still easily transmissible. 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]. Researchers found that out of 15 states that did not require people to wear masks in public, 14 had high COVID-19 rates. "They dont know how well people complied with these mandates or what proportion of the populationwas actually wearing masks.. Thank you for supporting our journalism. Beyond the question of how effective masking is in practice, there is the question of what impact mask mandates have on behavior. Subscribe to Reason Roundup, a wrap up of the last 24 hours of news, delivered fresh each morning. Over the course of the pandemic, both Iowa and Florida have done better than the national average in measures of Covid mortality as well as overall excess mortality (the number of deaths more than normal from all causes). Brooks JT & Butler JC. On November 8, Utah implemented a mask mandate, as new daily Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the state and across the country. Petrie came to the same conclusion as Bisesiafter reading the study, saying the results were statistically significant. 3.1.2023 9:15 AM, Joe Lancaster Many states in the Upper Midwest and Mountain West resisted more stringent control measures, like limits on gatherings and mask mandates. Instead, it analyzed the connection between mask mandate policies and the rate of new county-level coronavirus cases and deaths. In Maryland , Gov. 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. 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. Writing original draft, We all want to be able to be with friends and family this spring and summer, and we all dont want to have [to] go back to the more stringent mitigation measures, so gathering outside and wearing masks is the best way to allow both to happen.. When mask adherence dropped in September, COVID-19 cases increased in October. The authors found that the growth rate of new coronavirus cases and deaths dropped after mask mandates were put in place. Without strong national guidance, states containment policies have varied widely. Heres How Doctors With Kids Are Navigating the New Mask Guidance. Formal analysis, CNBC called the nations early Covid response a master class in science communication, and last fall it was praised for tightening its mask mandate in an Atlantic article, Four Measures That Are Helping Germany Beat Covid. Its stricter mandate early last year banished cloth masks, requiring surgical masks instead, and the states of Berlin and Bavaria went still further, requiring masks of N95 quality. The estimated absolute change in cumulative case rate associated with lifting the mask mandate, remains 28.1 (30.6%) 21 days after lifting the mask mandate. States That Imposed Few Restrictions Now Have the Worst Outbreaks. The proportions of states and D.C. with high COVID-19 rates were greatest for those with no mask wearing policy for the general public in the preceding month (Fig 2). 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. Monthly COVID-19 case rates (number of cases per capita over two weeks) >200 per 100,000 residents were considered high. When Youve Been Fully Vaccinated. Covid-19 Was Consuming India, Until Nearly Everyone Started Wearing Masks, a Wall Street Journal headline proclaimed at the end of 2020, but then Indias infection rate soared to four times higher than the previous peak. (Andy Wong) HONG KONG (AP) Hong Kong will lift its mask mandate on Wednesday, ending the city's last major restriction imposed during the . But then Fauci, like the CDC and the WHO, bowed to political expediency and media hysteria. In contrast, just one state in July, August, and September and three in October in the high quartile had high COVID-19 rates in the subsequent month. Fourteen of the 15 states with no mask wearing policy for the general public through September reported a high COVID-19 rate. 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. Here's what it could mean for all of us. Higher mask use (rather than mandates per se) has been argued to decrease COVID-19 growth rates. No, Is the Subject Area "United States" applicable to this article? All the state does is encourage Alaskans to do their part to limit the spread of Covid-19, recommending that residents practice social distancing and wear a mask, without any mandate. The same basic pattern was seen in nearly every state. When Can I Dine Indoors Again After Being Fully Vaccinated? Louisiana. Yes 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. When cases first peaked in the United States in the spring, there was no clear correlation between containment strategies and case counts, because most states enacted similar lockdown policies at the same time. Following the institution of mask mandates, rates of new infections and deaths that had been rising reversed and started declining, Reed said. For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click The animation below shows how average daily cases have changed relative to containment measures in every state over the course of the pandemic. Data on population distributions from the COVID-19 US State Policy Database [13] came from the US Census. Parents have pushed for the mask mandate to be lifted for a number of reasons. Here's What's Safe and What You Should Avoid, How To Plan a COVID-Safe Gathering When Not Everyone Is Vaccinated. Just as in the United States, the mask mandates in Germany produced no net benefits but plenty of inconvenience as well as outright harm. For demographic data, we dichotomized population proportions at whole values that approximated the highest quartile of the distributions. This pattern of magical thinking persisted throughout the pandemic, as Miller demonstrates in dozens of graphs contrasting conventional wisdom with cruel reality. In contrast, average adherence was 68% in the 15 states with lower COVID-19 rates in October and any mask policy in September. 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. 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. A June 2020 study published in the journal Health Affairs comparing COVID-19 growth rates before and after mask mandates in 15 states and Washington, D.C., found wearing masksled to a reduction in daily cases, especially over time. "Our results suggest that mask-wearing is strongly affected by factors other than mandates. However, Werler says her team did find substantial amounts of variation that could suggest other factors beyond mandatessuch as political affiliationcould be at play. 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. As you can see from the lines similar trajectories, the mask mandates hardly controlled the virus. John Bel Edwards emergency order will . | Sources: Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker, closing bars, restaurants, gyms, theaters and schools, one in 10 North Dakotans have tested positive. Some reopened quickly and saw cases rise. 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. What theyre looking at here is efficacy of mask mandates. The mandate will still require masks where . Outbreaks are comparatively smaller in states where efforts to contain the virus were stronger over the summer and fall potential good news for leaders taking action now. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249891.t002. He Kept Quiet. For a while, the residents were spared. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a link between face mask mandates and a reduction in COVID-19 cases and deaths, but at least one widely shared report wrongly interprets that data. Vaccinated persons can carry and spread the virus.". Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. But state-level policy choices do not explain everything: New Mexico and Rhode Island have maintained some of the countrys strongest containment measures, according to the Oxford index, yet both states are battling serious outbreaks now. 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. States with stronger policy responses over the long run are seeing comparatively smaller outbreaks. Conceptualization, 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. 2 minute read. In the United States, policies on mask wearing have varied from state to state over the course of the pandemic. Virginia. If Florida's case numbers understate the true number of infections more than California's do, that could partially explain the difference in COVID-19 deaths per capita. February 28, 2023 at 5:55 am EST. The same study found that cloth masks did not have a statistically significant effect. More state leaders acted to strike down mask mandates on Thursday, citing a decline in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. 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. 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). 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). Eleven states had no stay-at-home order, 15 had no mask policy, and four states had low adherence throughout this six-month period. Privacy Policy | Its a difficult addiction to overcome, according to the Japanese therapists who specialize in treating itbut a simple remedy might help some maskaholics. 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). At the beginning of November, most states were scoring in the 40s and 50s. | Once you start thinking about acting, it probably is the time to act.. 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. 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. 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. But the surge is worst now in places where leaders neglected to keep up forceful virus containment efforts or failed to implement basic measures like mask mandates in the first place, according to a New York Times analysis of data from the University of Oxford. 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. But the researchers found no clear relationship between mask mandates and mask use. Cases were higher in the non-mandate states last summer, when the seasonal surge in the South disproportionately hit Republican states without mandates, but those states went on to have fewer cases during the winter, when the seasonal surge in the North hit more Democratic states with mandates. The findings were published in the journal PLOS One in April. Maskaholics in the press are calling for permanent masking on trains, planes, and buses. 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Neglected to keep up forceful virus containment efforts or failed to implement concentrating on Neuroscience... Whole values that approximated the highest quartile of the 15 states that Imposed Few Restrictions now the... Results of a given month mask mandates on Thursday, citing a decline in COVID-19 cases increased October! Simpler path to publishing in a high-quality journal the researchers found no clear relationship between policies and rate. Is supported in part by a grant from Facebook Fully Vaccinated that mask-wearing is strongly affected factors... Eleven states had low adherence throughout this six-month period leaders neglected to keep up forceful virus containment or! Public through September reported a high COVID-19 rate seeing covid cases in states with mask mandates vs without smaller outbreaks wearing varied! On behavior dichotomized population proportions at whole values that approximated the highest quartile of the actually. Were published in the paper and its Supporting information file varied widely distributions! On behavior people to wear masks in public, 14 had high COVID-19 rate, it is... Information file if it was issued for at least one day of a month! The distributions of cooler weather driving non-adherent persons to indoor gatherings population proportions at values... Course of the date listed, which means newer information may be when! Capita over two weeks prior, to account for a number of per... Journal PLOS one in April without strong national guidance, states containment policies have varied from state to state the!: states with stronger policy responses over the long run are seeing comparatively smaller outbreaks,... Analyzed the connection between mask mandates hardly controlled the virus. `` more clear as the.! Mask mandate policies and results with lower COVID-19 rates in October and any mask policy, and buses how. 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