As cases remain at record high levels in many Southern states, more Southerners have been wearing masks. After a sharp drop in the share of Southerners who “always” wear a face mask when outside their home since March, that percentage is back on the rise. Four in ten Southerners (40%) report always wearing a mask in the last week, up seven points from what already had been a rising number, and five points higher than the national share (35%).

More Southerners are always wearing masks than are residents of any other region (Midwest 26%, Northeast 34%, West 37%). Among people who have lost a close friend or family member to COVID-19, the share who always wear masks is eight points higher in the South (54%) than nationally (46%).

Openness to vaccines is also rising in the South, where knowing someone who died from COVID-19 has an especially pronounced effect on vaccine hesitancy. The South still lags the Northeast and the West in the share of adults saying they have been fully vaccinated (59% compared with 73% in the Northeast and 68% in the West), but the share of people in the South who say they won’t be vaccinated or aren’t sure has dropped six points in the last week (to 36% from 30%).