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July 01, 2020 at 03:41 PM
For all those worried about another round of lockdowns due to the rising number of coronavirus infections in many states and their negative economic impacts, Goldman Sachs offers a solution: a national face mask mandate.
Such a mandate would sharply slow the COVID-19 infection rate and potentially boost U.S. GDP about 5% by preventing further lockdowns, according to new research from the firm.
“The economic benefit from a face mask mandate and increased face mask usage could be sizable,” according to the report written by Goldman Sachs economists led by Chief Economist Jan Hatzius.
The U.S., unlike many European and Asian countries, does not require people to wear face masks during the pandemic. Nor is face mask-wearing the norm here, as it is in China, South Korea and Japan. Face mask policies, like those concerning testing and tracing, are set by individual states.
As of Tuesday, 36 states saw increases in daily coronavirus cases over the past week, including Arizona, Florida and Texas, which experienced sharp increases, according to Johns Hopkins data. As a result, those three states and others — including even New Jersey, where new cases are declining — have retreated from some reopening plans.
What Goldman Sachs Analysts Found
Goldman Sachs economists studied the potential impact of a face mask mandate on the 32 states that don’t already have one — they account for 40% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases and two-thirds of new infections — and on the 20 states and Washington, DC, that do.
