Exactly. If you remove the labels from the two lines and then ask which set of counties imposed mask mandates in July, there would be no way to tell. If anythin

Exactly. If you remove the labels from the two lines and then ask which set of counties imposed mask mandates in July, there would be no way to tell. If anything, you might think it was the higher line; "see, their cases were spiraling out of control, then they required masks and their cases peaked and declined at the same time as the less hard hit counties". Unless that chart is a horribly misleading presentation of the data (quite possible!), it's evidence against mask mandates having any discernible impact.