Mask Up: US States That Wore Face Masks Had Lower COVID-19 Rates Compared To Those That Didn't

In case you needed one more reason why facemasks are lifesaving during the pandemic, a study published in PLOS One sheds light on how some states in the US that wore face masks outdoors had far fewer cases of the novel coronavirus compared to those states that didn’t.?

Also Read:?Face Mask Use Dropped COVID-19 Spread By 45% In 20 Days, Says German Study

Reuters

The new state-by-state analysis reveals a statistical association between people religiously wearing face masks and a drop in COVID-19 cases in the particular state. In case you didn’t know, not all states in the US made it compulsory for its citizens to wear face masks -- states like (according to CNN) Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho to name a few?

Researchers wanted to better understand the effects of wearing masks. They examined publicly available data on mask-wearing policies or habits shared by people wearing masks in the public as well as the rate of COVID-19 across all 50 states of the nation, as well as the capital, Washington DC.?

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They looked at COVID-19 rates from May 2020 to October 2020. They denoted rates of over 200 cases per 100,000 residents to be high. The analysis revealed that out of 15 states, that didn't make it compulsory for the citizens to wear their masks in public, 14 of them had high COVID-19 rates.

Eight states that had self-reported wearing face masks at a rate of over 75 percent, didn’t experience a high COVID-19 rate. States with at least 75 percent wearing face masks showed a mean COVID-19 rate of 109.26 per 100,000 residents.?

Reuters

States that didn’t make face masks compulsory (or had less than 75 percent of adherence) on the other hand, had a COVID-19 rate of 239.99 per 100,000.

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Researchers concluded in the study, “In conclusion, we show that mask-wearing adherence, regardless of mask-wearing policy, may curb the spread of COVID-19 infections. We recommend renewed efforts be employed to improve adherence to mask-wearing.”?