- A new national study adds strong evidence that mask mandates can slow the spread of the coronavirus, and that allowing dining at restaurants can increase cases and deaths.
- The study was released just as some states are rescinding mask mandates and restaurant limits.
- Texas became the biggest state to lift its mask rule, joining a movement by many governors to loosen COVID-19 restrictions despite pleas from health officials.
A recent news article published in the ABC News, written by Mike Stobbe reveals that study finds mask mandates, dining out influence virus spread.
CDC views on wearing masks
“All of this is very consistent,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing on Friday.
“You have decreases in cases and deaths when you wear masks, and you have increases in cases and deaths when you have in-person restaurant dining.”
The research is built on smaller CDC studies
The new research builds on smaller CDC studies, including one that found that people in 10 states who became infected in July were more likely to have dined at a restaurant and another that found mask mandates in 10 states were associated with reductions in hospitalizations.
Preventive measures a must while dining in restaurants
CDC officials stopped short of saying that on-premises dining needs to stop. But they said if restaurants do open.
They should follow as many prevention measures as possible.
They are like promoting outdoor dining, having adequate indoor ventilation, masking employees and calling on customers to wear masks whenever they aren’t eating or drinking.
“It’s always very, very hard to thoroughly nail down the causal relationships,” Hanage said.
“But when you take this gathered with all the other stuff we know about the virus, it supports the message” of the value of mask wearing and the peril of restaurant dining, he added.
Limitations of the study
The study had limitations. For example, the researchers tried to make calculations that accounted for other policies, such as bans on mass gatherings or bar closures, that might influence case and death rates. But the authors acknowledged that they couldn’t account for all possible influences — such as school re-openings.
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Source: ABC News
