Missouri Found Mask Mandates Worked, But Didn’t Inform Residents

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services conducted a study that found mask mandates help slow the spread of COVID-19, but the state failed to make those findings public. The Missouri Independent reported that following a Sunshine Law request to the department, it obtained data that showed cities and counties with mask mandates in place when the delta variant started to surge saw an average of 15.8 new cases per 100,000 residents per day, compared to 21.7 in those without mandates for the period from the end of April to the end of October. Areas with mandates averaged one death per 100 thousand people every five days, while communities without saw that average fall to one death every three and a half days. The Governor’s health department liaison, Alex Tuttle, requested the information in early November. Director Donald Kauerauf  responded in an e-mail “I think we can say with great confidence reviewing the public health literature and then looking at the results in your study that communities where masks were required had a lower positivity rate per 100,000 and experienced lower death rates.” Parson has been opposed to mask mandates, and Attorney General Eric Schmitt is suing St. Louis, St. Louis County, Kansas City and Jackson County to block enforcement of their mask mandates.