In this prior substack, it was shown that the median COVID positivity — the most-objective measure of COVID spread — in nations that had strict mask mandates was just over twice the median COVID positivity in nations which did not, after a sufficient time-lag to make sure that all infections were new infections.
Four nations which refrained from mandating masks in 2021 are Belarus, Finland, Japan, and Sweden. Here is their record of COVID positivity:
Notice how it was that there was never a day or week when as much as 30% of the COVID tests came back positive. Here is a contrast of COVID positivity from 8 regions with strict mask mandates:
The most striking result of having a strict (universal) mask mandate was found in Mongolia, the nation with the highest peaks off to the right. When overlayed on top of the “no mandate” nations, you can see the contrast:
Here is the same graph with notes in it:
In Mongolia, enacting a strict mask mandate led to COVID positivity that was over 95% in the first week of Oct 2021, with an all-time high of 99% in the first week of Nov 2021.
This small piece of evidence — along with the larger evidence in the prior substack — suggests that mask mandates have the capability of leading to 99% COVID positivity (where 99% of all COVID tests come back positive), and that the mandates should therefore be avoided.