Change in CDC’s Mask Policy Did Not Cause a Rise in COVID-19 Cases

When the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed its guidelines on mask wearing on May 13 to allow vaccinated individuals to leave their masks at home, some public health experts worried that this would lead to a spike in new cases due to the possibility that unvaccinated people would also go maskless, increasing risk of transmission. This fear did not pan out as the number of new COVID-19 cases has continued to decline. The daily case rate has decreased by 75% since April and 90% since January. The change to the CDC guidelines had another silver lining: the number of Americans getting vaccinated has stopped declining and has stabilized. Click here to read more.