The Efficacy of Mask Mandates in Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic
Published in Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, 2022
Recommended citation: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98012-2_21
The COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm and affected the lives of people everywhere. While COVID-19 was a force to be reckoned with, it quickly became a point of contention within the United States. This study covers one of the more controversial aspects of the pandemic in the United States, that is mask wearing. Some states forced its constituents to wear masks immediately, some states waited, and some states never created a mandate at all. This study looks into the difference a mask mandate made in the spread of COVID-19. The study focused on comparing data from states with a mandate against states without a mandate. This study used a data set that provided information on when state mask mandates began and ended compiled by faculty and students from Boston University while the data set for the COVID-19 cases and deaths used in this study came from the Center for Disease Control. This study showed that masks were effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19.