Covid-19: The mask-wearing US city that bucked the trend
President-elect Joe Biden has said one of his first actions in office will be to call on all Americans to wear a mask, or face-covering.
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More than half of US states currently have a mask mandate in place to limit the spread of coronavirus, but the issue has become highly controversial.
We've taken a closer look at one mask-wearing US city, which has diverged from the state-wide policy.
Care needs to be taken in drawing conclusions about wearing face coverings, but we can look at and compare the available data and consider the range of factors that may be involved in differing infection rates.
A case study in South Dakota
South Dakota has one of the highest coronavirus infection rates in the country.
Its Republican Governor Kristi Noem has not introduced compulsory mask-wearing, and has been unwilling to bring in state-wide lockdown restrictions, arguing the government has no right to do so.
Kristi Noem
However, some communities in South Dakota have chosen a different path. The city of Brookings - fourth largest in the state - was the first to impose rules on masks inside businesses in September, along with other measures.
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Should I wear a face mask?
So has there been a fall in the city's infection rate since the introduction of these restrictions, which have not only included face coverings, but others such as limits on the capacity in businesses?
The decision to impose mask-wearing in Brookings was initially met with some resistance says William McMacken, publisher of the local Register newspaper.
But alongside consistent messaging from local government and health officials, mask-wearing became widespread.
Mask-wearing customers at a coffee shop in Brookings
IMAGE COPYRIGHTWILLIAM MCMACKEN
image captionBrookings started asking residents to wear face coverings inside businesses in September
"When I frequent my favourite grocery store in Brookings I would estimate the number of customers wearing masks in there is around 80% to 90% right now," he said.
A major factor in the decision was keeping the university - South Dakota State - open for teaching and therefore retaining the large student population during the autumn, adds Mr McMacken.
The requirements for mask use were brought in by the city of Brookings but they don't apply across the entire county of the same name.
Our data is for the county, not the city, so it has its limitations.
Brookings County now has the lowest infection rate out of the five most populous South Dakota counties.
