Kansas counties that adopted a mask mandate over the summer had lower COVID-19 case rates than those that didn’t, according to a study released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The news comes just two days after Gov. Laura Kelly announced another run at a statewide mask mandate, with counties given until Nov. 25 to implement their own directive or ultimately opt out of any mandate at all.
The new research shows the seven-day rolling average of new cases in counties with mask mandates decreased by 6% following Kelly’s first attempt at a statewide mask order in July.
Counties that elected to opt out saw case rates increase by 100%, the data showed. While case rates were higher in counties with a mandate, which includes the state’s larger urban areas, the number of cases “declined markedly after July 3.”
The report noted that the only other statewide mitigation strategies taken during that time frame were related to schools.
“Masks are an important intervention for mitigating the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and countywide mask mandates appear to have contributed to the mitigation of COVID-19 spread in Kansas counties that had them in place,” the report said.
The CDC report noted its findings were consistent with similar reviews in 15 other states, as well as Washington, D.C.
They also mirror a study from the University of Kansas’ Institute for Policy and Social Research, which found that counties with mask mandates have had half the number of new cases than those that didn’t implement the requirement.
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