New U.S. guidance allowing people to go without masks in most places provided one more topic of disagreement among Americans who have found little common ground throughout the pandemic. <br /> <br />In many parts of the United States, people have not been wearing masks for months. A January survey by the University of Southern California Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research found that even at a peak time for COVID-19 infections, half of Americans were not wearing masks when mixing with the public.
