Mask mandates work! Efforts are needed to mitigate the surge in COVID-19 cases in our state and address capacity issues in our hospital systems across Colorado. The most recent modeling report from the Colorado School of Public Health identifies, “immediate increases in transmission control measures such as mask wearing” as a strategy for reducing future hospital demand. Six states currently have statewide mask orders – Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington – and all but New Mexico have case rates lower than Colorado’s.

In the face of unprecedented challenges presented by the current COVID-19 surge to the capacity of hospital systems across Colorado, local public health leaders across the Denver metro region have implemented a regional approach to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect already-threatened hospital capacity. Efforts include the implementation of public health orders related to masking in public indoor settings and vaccine verification. Currently, the highest rates of COVID-19-related hospitalization are in counties outside the metro area. A statewide public health order would provide consistent messaging to all residents of our state that masks are important to alleviate the strain on our hospital systems and avoid the implementation of crisis care management strategies that hospitals may need to implement with limited capacity.

Consider that during the early stages of the pandemic, many people delayed addressing health care issues when access to care was limited. Now people need to receive vital services for their heart conditions, diabetes care, cancer treatment, preventive care, and other health-related issues to avoid long-term complications. Currently hospitals are full not only due to COVID-19 but from all the other health-related issues that were not addressed for more than a year.

Each of us must do our part to assist in reducing the spread of COVID-19 to protect our friends, our families, our community, and our health systems. First and foremost, each of us need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as well as influenza and other vaccine preventable disease as applicable for our age group. However, protection from COVID-19 with vaccination takes up to six weeks depending on the vaccination choice (protection is achieved two weeks after completion of the two-dose series separated by 3-4 weeks or two weeks after the one-dose vaccination series). Thus, masking will protect all of us from the virus now.

The virus does not respect county lines. As such, we need to consider that masking not only protects ourselves from the virus but others who are compromised due to health-related issues. We must as a society think about the common good of everyone and work collectively to help stop this awful pandemic. A statewide mask mandate would help all our communities alleviate the strain of COVID-19 on our health systems and is urgently needed to protect all of us.

Judith C. Shlay, MD, MSPH is the associate director of the Public Health Institute at Denver Health and a professor of family medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.