Texas bar owners opposing Gov. Greg Abbott’s order closing them are understandably unhappy. But an analysis by Goldman Sachs concludes that a national mandate requiring all Americans to wear face masks could prevent a 5% drop in gross domestic product.
“We find that face masks are associated with significantly better coronavirus outcomes,” the investment bank said in a report distributed to clients. “A face mask mandate could potentially substitute for lockdowns that would otherwise subtract nearly 5% from GDP.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has refused to order all Texans to wear face masks in public. “Government cannot require individuals to wear masks,” he says. “Local governments can require stores and business to require masks. That’s what was authorized in my plan.”
Currently, 20 states and the District of Columbia require residents to wear masks either in all public places where social distancing isn’t possible, most public indoor spaces or in businesses, according to #Masks4All. Other states have more limited mask requirements.
The Goldman Sachs research says a national mandate could raise the number of people who wear masks by 15 percentage points and cut the daily growth rate of confirmed coronavirus cases by 1 percentage point to 0.6%.