Mask Mandates Are Not Happening Where COVID-19 Cases Are Rising Fastest

There are growing fears over a new wave of coronavirus across the United States, with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning of a new strain, BA.2.86. The CDC said "may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received COVID-19 vaccines."

The number of hospitalizations across the U.S. increased by 15.7 percent between August 20 and 26, compared to the previous week. The same period saw the proportion of positive COVID-19 tests increase by 1.4 percent, to a total of 15 percent, while mask mandates have been reintroduced in a number of schools, hospitals and government buildings.

Over the past few months, Republican governors in a number of states have outright banned mask mandates across government agencies. The response to the increase in positive coronavirus tests has largely varied substantially, dependent on which party controls the state.

The most-recent CDC data, accessed by Newsweek on September 9, says that the states of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana and Arkansas had the highest proportion of positive test results, at 20.3 percent, over the past week.

This was followed by Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri at an average of 14.5 percent, then California, Nevada and Arizona on 14.2 percent. Rather than give the result state by state, the CDC divides the country into 10 regions, each containing multiple states, for the statistics published on its website. By contrast, the states with the lowest proportion of positive tests were located in the northeast and Great Lakes regions.

Notably, some of the reintroduction of mask mandates has taken place in the least-impacted states, while some of those hardest hit have bans still in place. The governors of Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi have all either banned or ruled out the enforcement of mask requirements by public bodies.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed into law legislation "prohibiting any government entity from establishing mask or vaccine mandates and from closing businesses or schools due to COVID."

Mask mandates have also been banned or ruled out by the governors of Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi and Utah.

By contrast, in New York state, one of the least-impacted regions, United Health Services, Auburn Community Hospital and Upstate Medical's hospitals have announced that mask wearing will be compulsory for patients, staff and visitors. A similar policy has been put in place by Californian health-care company Kaiser Permanente.

In Maryland, the Rosemary Hills Elementary School sent letters to parents announcing a mask mandate for students and staff, originally for a period of 10 days.

The only Republican-dominated state where masking restrictions have been reintroduced is Alabama, where officials in Dallas County introduced a mask mandate for three government buildings. Also in the state, on August 21, Kinterbish Junior High School announced students and staff members would be required to wear masks for an indefinite period of time.

Speaking to Newsweek in late August, a CDC spokesperson said: "Vaccination remains the safest strategy for avoiding hospitalizations, long-term health outcomes, and death.

"COVID 19-vaccines are effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized and dying. COVID-19 vaccines also reduce the chance of having Long COVID," the spokesperson added.