Community Use Of Face Masks And COVID-19: Evidence From A Natural Experiment Of State Mandates In The US
University of Iowa · Iowa Department of Public Health · +2 more institutions
Abstract
State policies mandating public or community use of face masks or covers in mitigating the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are hotly contested. This study provides evidence from a natural experiment on the effects of state government mandates for face mask use in public issued by fifteen states plus Washington, D.C., between April 8 and May 15, 2020. The research design is an event study examining changes in the daily county-level COVID-19 growth rates between March 31 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 or more days after state face…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 24.73
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 10
Authors
2- WLWei LyuCorresponding
University of Iowa, Iowa Department of Public Health, University of Iowa Health Care
- GLGeorge L. Wehby
National Bureau of Economic Research
Topics & keywords
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
- 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak
- Natural experiment
- Face masks
- Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
- Face (sociological concept)
- Natural (archaeology)
- State (computer science)