Security
Goldman Sachs says wear your mask
July 3, 2020
Goldman Sachs believes a national mask mandate in the U.S. is needed to lower the possibility of COVID-19 infections and such a mandate would lead to a decreased infection rate of 1% to 6%.
Lowering the coronavirus infection, and relatedly hospitalization rate, would also stem further economic decline, according to a report released by the firm.
Goldman Sachs, according to a USA Today report, is pushing for the mask mandate.
"If a face mask mandate meaningfully lowers coronavirus infections, it could be valuable not only from a public health perspective, but also from an economic perspective because it could substitute for renewed lockdowns that would otherwise hit GDP," said Jan Hatzius, chief economist in a message to clients, according to USA Today.
"Countries which took longer to reach widespread mask usage, whether by policy or cultural norms suffered more virus cases and fatalities," Hatzius said.
The report noted different face mask models were associated with significantly better outcomes.
States that currenlyt don't have e a state-level mandate account for 40% of total confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S., or approximately half the population and 45% of GDP.
Goldman Sachs report stated masks are worn by nearly 90% in East Asia, 80% in Southern Europe and just below 70% in the U.S.
