Patrons Sari and Peter Melendez enjoy lunch at Katz’s Delicatessen, the famed delicatessen founded in 1888, on the first day of return inward dining for New York City, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in New York, 12 February, 2021.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Relaxing mask mandates and reopening restaurants have led to an increase in Covid-19 cases and deaths, according to a new study from the CDC that’s because the agency urges states not to aggressively lift health restrictions.
According to the study, which examined county data between March and December, mask mandates implemented by local governments were able to slow the spread of the virus, starting about 20 days after their implementation.
“Allowing dining in an on-site restaurant was associated with an increase in daily growth rates of COVID-19 cases 41-100 days after implementation and an increase in daily mortality rates 61-100 days after implementation,” the authors wrote. researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Masking mandates and limiting on-site dining in restaurants can help limit community transmission of COVID-19 and reduce the growth in cases and deaths.”
The study found that mask requirements were associated with a greater than 1 percentage point decrease in the daily growth rate of Covid-19 cases and deaths 20 days after their implementation. Dining in restaurants was associated with a 0.9, 1.2 and 1.1 percentage point increase in the rate of growth of the cases, 41-60, 61 to 80 and 81 to 100 days, respectively, after the restrictions were lifted .
The researchers added that these measures will be important to prevent highly transmissible coronavirus variants from spreading unabated, which could lead to more cases, hospitalizations and deaths, medical experts have warned.
“ This report is a critical reminder that with current levels of Covid-19 in communities and the continued spread of more transmissible virus variants now discovered in 48 states, rigorous prevention measures remain essential to end this. pandemic, ”said CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky at a Covid-19 White House press conference on Friday.
“It also serves as a warning for lifting these prevention measures early,” Walensky said.
Top US health officials have repeatedly warned in recent weeks that the emergence of the new variants, particularly the strain first identified in the UK known as B.1.1.7, will halt the nation’s success in the outbreak. times.
The US reports a daily average of about 62,950 new cases in the past week, a significant drop from the peak of nearly 250,000 daily cases reported by the US in January, according to a CNBC analysis of data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
The decline in cases has since lost momentum, a worrying trend that has left infections at alarmingly high levels, which could recover if the variants are allowed, top health officials warn.
“There is light at the end of this tunnel, but we have to be prepared that the road may not be smooth ahead of us,” Walensky said.
Regardless, some states have continued to reopen their economies, despite requests from the Biden administration, including White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, to allow local leaders to wait a few more weeks for the cases to take hold. relapses and more vaccines are administered. .
“I don’t know why they are doing it, but it certainly is, from a public health point of view, unwise,” Fauci told CNN on Wednesday when asked about states lifting their Covid restrictions. The scene is reminiscent of last summer, when states began to withdraw restrictions too early, followed by a wave of US solar belt cases.
“What we don’t need right now is one more wave,” Fauci said.
Texas, Mississippi and Connecticut moved this week to allow businesses to resume operations at full capacity in their states. Both Texas and Mississippi also decided to lift their statewide mask mandates, although state governors said residents should keep covering their faces.
On Thursday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced that she would lift her state’s mandate starting April 9, saying that while it was the right thing to do, she respects those “who object and believe this is a step too far. was in overriding the government. “