tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Health Aff (Millwood)
. 2020 Jun 16;101377hlthaff202000818.
doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00818. Online ahead of print.
Community Use Of Face Masks And COVID-19: Evidence From A Natural Experiment Of State Mandates In The US
Wei Lyu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], George L Wehby[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
State policies mandating public or community use of face masks or covers in mitigating novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread are hotly contested. This study provides evidence from a natural experiment on effects of state government mandates in the US for face mask use in public issued by 15 states plus DC between April 8 and May 15. The research design is an event study examining changes in the daily county-level COVID-19 growth rates between March 31, 2020 and May 22, 2020. Mandating face mask use in public is associated with a decline in the daily COVID-19 growth rate by 0.9, 1.1, 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0 percentage-points in 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, and 21+ days after signing, respectively. Estimates suggest as many as 230,000-450,000 COVID-19 cases possibly averted By May 22, 2020 by these mandates. The findings suggest that requiring face mask use in public might help in mitigating COVID-19 spread. [Editor's Note: This Fast Track Ahead Of Print article is the accepted version of the peer-reviewed manuscript. The final edited version will appear in an upcoming issue of Health Affairs.].
Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Evidence based decision making; Face masks; Health professionals; N95; Pandemics; Populations; Publish health; Researchers; State health policies; State mandates.
. 2020 Jun 16;101377hlthaff202000818.
doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00818. Online ahead of print.
Community Use Of Face Masks And COVID-19: Evidence From A Natural Experiment Of State Mandates In The US
Wei Lyu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], George L Wehby[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 32543923
- DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00818
Abstract
State policies mandating public or community use of face masks or covers in mitigating novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread are hotly contested. This study provides evidence from a natural experiment on effects of state government mandates in the US for face mask use in public issued by 15 states plus DC between April 8 and May 15. The research design is an event study examining changes in the daily county-level COVID-19 growth rates between March 31, 2020 and May 22, 2020. Mandating face mask use in public is associated with a decline in the daily COVID-19 growth rate by 0.9, 1.1, 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0 percentage-points in 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, and 21+ days after signing, respectively. Estimates suggest as many as 230,000-450,000 COVID-19 cases possibly averted By May 22, 2020 by these mandates. The findings suggest that requiring face mask use in public might help in mitigating COVID-19 spread. [Editor's Note: This Fast Track Ahead Of Print article is the accepted version of the peer-reviewed manuscript. The final edited version will appear in an upcoming issue of Health Affairs.].
Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Evidence based decision making; Face masks; Health professionals; N95; Pandemics; Populations; Publish health; Researchers; State health policies; State mandates.