Lack of correlation between school mask mandates and paediatric COVID-19 cases in a large cohort.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To expand upon an observational study published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) showing an association between school mask mandates and lower pediatric COVID-19 cases. We examine whether this association persists in a larger, nationally representative dataset over a longer period.

Method

We replicated the CDC study and extended it to more districts and a longer period, employing seven times as much data. We examined the relationship between mask mandates and per-capita pediatric cases, using multiple regression to control for observed differences.

Results

We successfully replicated the original result using 565 counties; non-masking counties had around 30 additional daily cases per 100,000 children after two weeks of schools reopening. However, aft

SUBMITTER: Chandra A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9539411 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature