Four states have rolled back mask mandates....what it could mean for all of us.

Four states have rolled back mask mandates. More could be on the way. Here's what it could mean for all of us. Texas and Mississippi joined more than a dozen other states that don't have mask mandates in place. But businesses and local leaders are ignoring the eased rules. Christal Hayes USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Four states have announced rolling back mask mandates in major recalls of COVID-19 safety measures over the last month — leaving many to wonder whether additional states will join the tide and alter how the country is dealing with COVID-19 at a crucial moment in the fight against the disease. 

But like so much with the pandemic, the path ahead is unclear. Cities, businesses, and families are often making their own choices of whether to wear masks or go to restaurants, despite governors in Mississippi, Texas, Montana and Iowa urging their residents to go back to a virus carefree life.

Major American retail chains across the country, such as Kroger, Best Buy Co., Kohl’s and Ulta are sticking to their policies to require masks in stores. Some local mayors are telling residents to ignore the words of their state governors. 

The mixed messaging has become another unfortunate reality of COVID's impact. Several states that never enacted mask mandates still had communities and businesses that required them, creating a dizzying environment for residents navigating differing rules. The confusion has even led to violent confrontations over the months. ...

Public health experts widely condemned the moves by Texas, Mississippi and other states, warning of the impacts such policies could have on the rest of the country. 

Eric Rubin, an infectious diseases specialist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said, "what they do in Texas matters to everybody else in the country," noting the state's status as the second most populated in the country and as the second highest in country with coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic. 

Rubin said he understood the daunting task for states examining whether to reopen their economies, though he noted the partial reopenings in various parts of the country over the months have largely been "counterproductive" in the goal of ridding the country of the virus. ...