In early June, during an uptick in COVID-19 cases, Alameda County was the only Bay Area county to bring back an indoor mask mandate. At the time, county Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss said, "Putting our masks back on gives us the best opportunity to limit the impact of a prolonged wave on our communities."
The graphs below compare Alameda County's seven-day average case rate from the past two months to rates in neighboring Contra Costa, Santa Clara, and San Francisco counties.
- The case rate curves for Alameda and Contra Costa counties are near-identical
- If masking policy had an impact on pandemic outcomes, one would expect to see some sort of discrepancy in the graph
- Once the mandate was introduced, the three counties all followed the same trend line
The recent mask order contributed to the improvements observed with COVID-19 in Alameda County
- “Published evidence shows that high levels of community masking lowers transmission rates and survey data displayed an increase in masking during the recent Order timeframe," Moss said in a statement.
- The New York Times published an article titled “Why Masks Work, but Mandates Haven’t”
- Many people find it difficult to wear an N95 for long periods of time, instead opting for lower-quality cloth or surgical masks
- If the mandate came with enforcement of wearing a good mask correctly, it might demonstrate a significant advantage in preventing cases.
The Bay Area
- Residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, with high rates of vaccination and infection-acquired immunity from the past two surges, are well-protected from severe disease and death
- Anyone who wants to limit their chance of catching COVID-19 can easily do so by wearing a well-fitting N95 when they go out in public, with or without a mask mandate
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