John Bel Edwards emergency order will . That second observation requires a caveat, since testing rates affect the number of cases that are recorded. But the researchers found no clear relationship between mask mandates and mask use. Instead of carefully analyzing the effects of masks, the CDC repeatedly tried to justify them by misrepresenting short-term trends and hyping badly flawed research, like studies in Arizona and Kansas purporting to show that infections had been dramatically reduced by the mask mandates imposed in some counties. 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. Masks make no difference in reducing the spread of Covid, according to an extensive new review by Cochranethe gold standard for evaluating health interventions. 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. She holds a Masters in Psychology concentrating on Behavioral Neuroscience. PLOS ONE promises fair, rigorous peer review, By contrast, Florida has no statewide restrictions. "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%]. Cases dropped in late July, but since then Texas has eased efforts to contain the virus, and cases are rising again. The data we now have conclusively show that widespread use of masks is a very effective way to reduce the spread of COVID-19, CDC spokeswoman Jasmine Reed wrote in an email to USA TODAY. Visualization, The cumulative rate of infection over the course of the pandemic was about 24 percent in the mandate states as well as in the non-mandate states. No, Is the Subject Area "Health care policy" applicable to this article? 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. Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America, Roles North Dakota, for example, made few efforts to contain the virus. One America News Network on March 7 published an article under the headline CDC: Face masks dont prevent COVID-19, study finds masks have negligible impact on coronavirus numbers. The post claims the CDC has admitted face masks do little to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amid mounting pressure to lift mask mandates across the U.S., Butthe CDCs study doesnt say that. 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). 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. In addition, Hawaii and Oregon, which have both implemented school mask. And the more swiftly they can act, the shorter any lockdown-style policies need to be. We recommend renewed efforts be employed to improve adherence to mask wearing. 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. 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. Charlie B. Fischer, He Kept Quiet. 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). 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. After the pandemic, a survey of gains and losses. The index does not evaluate the effectiveness of individual policies. The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It. The findings were published in the journal PLOS One in April. Most states imposed tight restrictions in the spring even if they did not have bad outbreaks then. The study also did not measure compliance with and enforcement of mask mandates and prohibitions on dining at restaurants. 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. 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. 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. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249891.t001. The claim that a CDC study found face masks to have a negligible effect on the spread of COVID-19 is FALSE. The claim that a CDC study found face masks to have a negligible effect on the spread of COVID-19 is FALSE. When mask adherence dropped in September, COVID-19 cases increased in October. Eleanor J. Murray and Jennifer Weuve and the Boston University School of Public Health Epidemiology COVID-19 Response Corps for bringing together students and faculty for this project. 3.1.2023 2:50 PM, David McGarry 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. 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. Higher mask use did not predict lower maximum growth rates, smaller surges, or . 3.1.2023 11:20 AM, Elizabeth Nolan Brown Here's What's Safe and What You Should Avoid, How To Plan a COVID-Safe Gathering When Not Everyone Is Vaccinated. Investigation, Mandating masks gave the illusion of doing something against the virus. "The probability of becoming a rapid riser county was 43% lower among counties that had statewide mask mandates at reopening," the researchers reported. 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]. 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,. In the summer of 2020, Politico praised Rhode Islands wear-your-damn mask policy in an article headlined, How the Smallest State Engineered a Covid Comeback. A survey in the autumn found that 96 percent of Rhode Islanders were wearing masks, the highest rate in the U.S., yet that winter the state went on to suffer one of the nations worst Covid surges. 2021. COVID-19 death rates dropped by 0.7 percentage points in the first 20 days after masks were required. Indeed, issuing such a policy is not the same as successfully implementing it. States and D.C. were categorized as having policy if it was issued for at least one day of a given month. Conceptualization, Counties with mask mandates saw a 6% reduction in cases; counties without experienced a 100% increase. Even if masking works, that does not necessarily mean mandates do. Yes Werler and her team used the COVID-19 U.S. State Policy Database to collect policy and demographic data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 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. Jocelyn Solis-Moreira is a journalist specializing in health and science news. 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. Yes Adherence to public policy is influenced by a complex interplay of factors such as public opinion, cultural practices, individual perceptions and behaviors [11], which are difficult to quantify. 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. "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. 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. Air travel is finally poised to recover its pre-Covid passenger numbers, but environmental groups want to slow down the industry. The adoption of universal masking policies is increasingly polarized and politicized, demanding that public health authorities balance the values of health and individual liberty. 3.1.2023 9:30 AM, Damon Root Here's what it could mean for all of us. Variants of COVID-19 Are Spreading Across the U.S. How to Plan a COVID-Safe Summer Vacation in 2022. New York. Experts interviewed by USA TODAY said the One America News Network had "misinterpreted" or "mischaracterized" the findings of the CDC study. 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. Eleven states had no stay-at-home order, 15 had no mask policy, and four states had low adherence throughout this six-month period. Decreases in the rate of new infections and deaths from the virus were statistically significant, the studys authors found. The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this. Doug Burgum reopened the state nearly fully in May. Herring dismissed those results, claiming unnamed experts told the news network that the reductions in spread the study found were not significant. States with stronger policy responses over the long run are seeing comparatively smaller outbreaks. "At first blush," Jha says, it "looks like their different COVID strategies did not end up mattering much." Nor did it look at actual mask wearing, as opposed to legal requirements. 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. Just as in the United States, the mask mandates in Germany produced no net benefits but plenty of inconvenience as well as outright harm. Fully vaccinated people should continue following CDC guidelines, including wearing their masks in crowded areas and when around unvaccinated people. Methodology, The 2-week rate in July in Arizona = 43,088 cases/7,278,717 population in 2019 = 0.00592 or 592 per 100,000. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order May 3, 2021. that barred local governments and school systems from imposing COVID-19 restrictions, including mask rules. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. Daniella Amato is a biomedical scientist and fact checker with expertise in pharmaceuticals and clinical research. 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. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249891.t003. Thank you for supporting our journalism. 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). 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. By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira 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. 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. 3.1.2023 9:15 AM, Joe Lancaster We did estimate odds ratios for mask adherence within subgroups of states with and without mask policy. Further analyses of more granular geographic regions would be a logical next step. Masks prevent you from inhaling or exhaling viral droplets that can linger in the air. 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. Mask wearing has been advocated by public health officials as a way to reduce the spread of COVID-19. "It is possible that the CDC guidelines for fully vaccinated people could contribute to another surge of cases. Eleven states never mandated masks, while the other 39 states enforced mandates. As you can see from the lines' similar trajectories, the mask mandates hardly controlled the virus. Thus, adherence to mask wearing in public remains a challenge for mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Its been largely delegated to a subnational level, to the states, for example, and municipalities to figure it out themselves.. Many experts acknowledge that the rise and fall of waves is a bit of a mystery.". Investigation, 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. 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. For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click 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. 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. Over the course of the pandemic, the scientific evidence and our understanding of masks have grown. Data Availability: Data are available in the paper and its Supporting Information file. "Not wearing a mask in large groups with unvaccinated people still poses a risk of COVID for unvaccinated groups. 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). For example, mask wearing in the two weeks before rates begin to rise might be a more sensitive way to measure the association. How Are States Responding to CDC Mask Guidelines? In the United States, policies on mask wearing have varied from state to state over the course of the pandemic [6]. 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. 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]. She holds a Masters in Psychology concentrating on Behavioral Neuroscience. 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.. 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. By Lauren Leatherby and Rich HarrisNov. 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