The new study closely analyzes changes in growth rates of Covid-19 cases and deaths in counties before and after implementing state-issued mask warrants and allowed food at the restaurant from March to December from last year.
The researchers found that from March 1 to December 31, requiring people to wear a mask away from home or in shops and restaurants was linked to a 0.5 percentage point decrease in the daily growth rate. of the Covid-19 cases until 20 days later the mask mandate was implemented. Up to 100 days later, decreases of up to 1.8 percentage points were observed.
Mask warrants were associated with a 0.7 percentage point decrease in daily Covid-19 death rates up to 20 days after implementation and decreases of up to 1.9 percentage points up to 100 days later, respectively, as the researchers found.
As for restaurants, changes in daily growth rates of cases and Covid-19 deaths were not statistically significant until 40 days after the removal of the restrictions, according to the study.
But allowing local restaurants to be eaten was associated with increases of 0.9, 1.2 and 1.1 percentage points in cases of up to 60, 80 and 100 days, respectively, after removing restrictions, they found the researchers. The possibility of eating on the premises was associated with increases of 2.2 and 3 percentage points in the growth rate of Covid-19 death between 61 and 80 and 81 to 100 days, respectively, after the restrictions were removed.
The study did not monitor other Covid-19 safety measures in counties and states that could have influenced the data, and the analysis did not differentiate between indoor and outdoor dining.
“Mask warrants and restricting any local food to restaurants can help limit community transmission of COVID-19 and reduce the growth rates of cases and deaths,” wrote researchers from the CDC and the University of Nevada. “These findings may inform public policies to reduce community outreach of COVID-19.”