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). The list of states with high COVID-19 rates by month shows the initial wave in northeastern states in May, followed by a wave in southern states, and then spreading across the U.S. over the next four months (Table 2). Subscribe to Reason Roundup, a wrap up of the last 24 hours of news, delivered fresh each morning. Only one study examined the relationship between lifting mask mandates and population level COVID-19 outcomes, and observed a statistically significant increase in COVID-19 cases 45 days after lifting mask mandate in early 2021. One state is the lone holdout. 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. Of note, there were no states with 75% in September. In Maryland , Gov. "The states with mask mandates haven't fared significantly better than the 35 states that didn't impose them during the omicron wave. That second observation requires a caveat, since testing rates affect the number of cases that are recorded. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We did estimate odds ratios for mask adherence within subgroups of states with and without mask policy. Yes 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%. We divided the monthly number by 2.2 to obtain the number in a two-week period (43,088). Doug Burgum reopened the state nearly fully in May. 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. So theres a need to make decisions and be decisive, Dr. El-Sadr said. 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). We were not able to measure statistical interactions between mask policy and adherence due to instability arising from small numbers. Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America, Roles Our analysis suggests high adherence to mask wearing could be a key factor in reducing the spread of COVID-19. 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. 2021. 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. Mask wearing has been advocated by public health officials as a way to reduce the spread of COVID-19. In the first 20 days after implementingmask mandates, new cases slowed by 0.5 percentage points. PLOS ONE promises fair, rigorous peer review, Mask wearing has been advocated by public health officials as a way to reduce the spread of COVID-19. 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. But a new study examines how the value of these actions also came with costs. 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. 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]. By Lauren Leatherby and Rich HarrisNov. Methodology, ", An August 2021 systematic review of 21 observational studies found that all of them "reported SARS-CoV-2 benefits" from mask mandates "in terms of reductions in either the incidence, hospitalization, or mortality, or a combination of these outcomes." Our study accounted for temporality by staggering COVID-19 outcome data after adherence measures. Its Legacy Is Disastrous. Here's what it could mean for all of us. | Ron DeSantis issued an executive order May 3, 2021. that barred local governments and school systems from imposing COVID-19 restrictions, including mask rules. 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. Its been largely delegated to a subnational level, to the states, for example, and municipalities to figure it out themselves.. The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It. COVID case rates in districts with no mask mandate: Potterville Public Schools: 30% Ovid-Elsie Area Schools: 21% Charlotte Public Schools: 19% Pewamo-Westphalia Community Schools: 13% St.. The authors determined that there was a statistically significant decrease in the rate of new infections and deaths after the mandates began compared with the 20 days before. Beyond the question of how effective masking is in practice, there is the question of what impact mask mandates have on behavior. 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. Based on data from various countries and U.S. states from May to September 2020, a preprint study published last June found that general mask wearing was associated with a reduction in virus transmission. When Can I Go Out in Public Again After Being Fully Vaccinated? She holds a Masters in Psychology concentrating on Behavioral Neuroscience. Now, Midwestern states have among the worst outbreaks. Writing review & editing, Affiliation | A couple weeks into those lockdowns, countries with new restrictions may be seeing results: The rate of new daily cases has begun to level off or drop in France, Spain, Germany and Italy, though it continues to rise in the United Kingdom. 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.. 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. In the United States, policies on mask wearing have varied from state to state over the course of the pandemic. Based on CDC at-risk guidelines for COVID-19 [20], we considered non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, age, and population density as potential confounders. Methodology, "There are over 200 percent more cases in a school (district) that does not have a mask mandate," said Dr. Catherine Troisi, an. But the study did not take into account other policies or voluntary safeguards that may have differed between jurisdictions with and without mask mandates. When Can I Visit a Friend's House After I'm Fully Vaccinated? Methodology, 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. 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. For mask adherence levels, we utilized the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) COVID-19 Projections online database [15], which holds data collected by Facebook Global in partnership with the University of Maryland Social Data Science Center [16]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249891.t002. JAMA. 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. 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. 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. 3.1.2023 9:15 AM, Joe Lancaster A new study finds that states with high rates of mask-wearing experienced fewer COVID-19 cases. Masks make no difference in reducing the spread of Covid, according to an extensive new review by Cochranethe gold standard for evaluating health interventions. 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). States and cities are reinstating restrictions and implementing new ones: In recent days, the governors of Iowa, North Dakota and Utah imposed mask mandates for the first time since the outbreak began. Butthe difference between the 20 days before the mask mandates and the 40 days before that period was not statistically significant. 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). Fourteen of the 15 states with no mask wearing policy for the general public through September reported a high COVID-19 rate. Several cities and large counties, including Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Hillsborough (which includes Tampa), had mask requirements, but Gov. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249891.t003. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. That's not nothing, but it's a pretty modest effect, and it was achieved with surgical masks worn by adults in conditions that encouraged proper and consistent use. | 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. Note: State containment measures are shown from two weeks prior, reflecting what experts say is a lag between new policies and results. However, the COVID-19 rates continued to be higher in places with low mask adherence. Larry Hogan called on the State Board of Education to . Five states are rolling back mask mandates. Further, our adjustment for demographic factors at the state population level may not represent the true underlying forces that put individuals at greater risk of contracting COVID-19. | Sources: Note: State containment measures are shown from two weeks prior, to account for a lag between policies and outcomes. 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. As of yesterday,The New York Times reports, every state that required people to wear face masks in public places and/or in schools during this winter's COVID-19 surge has decided to lift those mandates, with the exception of Hawaii. The CDC's report is the latestin a growing body of evidence establishing mask mandates as an effective strategy in curbing the virus. Many states in the Upper Midwest and Mountain West resisted more stringent control measures, like limits on gatherings and mask mandates. 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. 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.". The Kentucky senator presses on with his fight against the federal governments Covid response. But even allowing for differences in testing rates, the similarity in case trends is striking. If youve been vaccinated and still feel mortally threatened by the virus, please read this. ", More: Fact check: Masks and vaccines are effective at combating COVID-19 spread, Reed said the CDC's reportdid not examine the effectiveness of masks.. "The probability of becoming a rapid riser county was 43% lower among counties that had statewide mask mandates at reopening," the researchers reported. 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. Is the Subject Area "COVID 19" applicable to this article? 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. 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. Our analyses took into consideration the delayed effect of mask wearing and policies on COVID-19 health outcomes. Writing original draft, Most states in the low quartile had high COVID-19 rates in the subsequent month. 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