An informed guide to the pandemic, with the latest developments and expert advice about prevention and treatment. |
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 | | The New York Times |
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The power of mask mandates |
They’re restrictive, tedious and hotly contested, but since the early days of the pandemic we’ve known masks to be an efficient and cost-effective way to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. |
And they’re even better, it turns out, when you oblige people to wear them. |
Only 20 of the state’s 105 counties enforced the order, which required residents to wear masks in public. Those 20 counties saw half as many new coronavirus infections as the counties that did not have the mandate in place, according to a new study from the University of Kansas. |
Cellphone-tracking data from the University of Maryland showed no differences in how often people left home in the counties with or without mask mandates, so it seemed likely that the masks made the difference. |
Experts say it’s part of a countrywide trend: Localities that impose mask mandates often see fewer cases, fewer hospitalizations, fewer deaths and lower test-positivity rates than nearby localities that do not. |
Other studies have turned up similar results in Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. A recently published report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 75 percent drop in coronavirus cases in Arizona less than a month after mask-wearing became enforced and bars and gyms were shuttered. |
Another White House outbreak |
A new coronavirus cluster has emerged in the White House, this time in Vice President Mike Pence’s office. Five of the vice president’s aides have tested positive, including his chief of staff. Mr. Pence and his wife, Karen, both tested negative over the weekend. |
The new cluster emerged as Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, told CNN on Sunday: “We’re not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigations, because it is a contagious virus — just like the flu.” |
The second White House outbreak is a visceral reminder of the administration’s dismissive and erratic handling of the health crisis. Mr. Trump has downplayed the threat of the virus and made eschewing masks and social distancing into tests of political loyalty. As the leader of the White House virus task force, Mr. Pence has echoed the president’s rosy outlook, and in April he mirrored Mr. Trump’s aversion to masks by refusing to wear one during a visit to a hospital. |
Inside the White House, the approach is the same. The president, the vice president and aides have declined to follow quarantine guidelines, ignored warnings from doctors and largely refused to wear masks. With just over a week before the election, Mr. Pence said he would continue to campaign and not quarantine despite having been exposed to the infected aides. |
What else we’re following |
I wanted to do something safe and fun for my nieces this Halloween, so I converted my stairway into a “haunted house.” They had a blast as we navigated the fake webs, spiders and scary props while my partner hid at the top and made spooky noises. — Jennifer Pierce, Little Rock, Ark. |
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