That doesn't seem to 'prove' that mask mandates work to me.

Posted on: December 2, 2021 at 15:14:58 CT

"The comparison showed infection rates in “masked” jurisdictions were higher than the rest of the state in the six weeks prior to the emergence of the delta variant. Case rates then fell below other regions as the surge gathered force in late May and have remained lower since that time."

That seems to be the pattern all over the world whether there are mask mandates or not.

An area gets a lot of people infected as the virus sweeps through a community/city/state/country while a neighboring area has lower rates of infection. People who get the virus recover or die. The survivors now have natural immunity and the infection rates subside and drop down.

The neighboring areas which had lower infection rates earlier have less natural immunity and eventually get rising rates even as the first area is dropping. The same wave pattern happens as people recover and herd immunity to a greater or lesser extent helps to quell the wave.

Correlation is not causation. Using the Missouri study as an example one could use the same logic to conclude that living in more crowded conditions &/or with more concrete around them protected against covid infections. St. Louis & Kansas City both had higher rates of infection when Delta began to hit, but their rates started to drop and then more rural areas were hit. Duh. Maybe living in closer proximity to deer causes covid.