NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - Even as officials in Texas and Mississippi lifted statewide mask mandates, researchers at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday (March 5) offered fresh evidence of the importance of face coverings. They reported that mask-wearing mandates were linked to fewer infections with the coronavirus and Covid-19 deaths in counties across the United States. Federal researchers also found that counties opening restaurants for on-premises dining - indoors or outdoors - saw a rise in daily infections about six weeks later, and an increase in Covid-19 death rates about two months later. The study does not prove cause and effect, but the findings square with other research showing that masks prevent infection and that indoor spaces foster the spread of the virus through aerosols, tiny respiratory particles that linger in the air.