Before revision:  As an example, we show that the recommendation to use facemasks for all activities would result in a putative total of 71000 (95\% CI 64000 to 78000) fewer official cases in New York State  .
After revision:  As an example, we show that the recommendation to use facemasks for all activities would result in a putative total of 71000 (95\% CI 64000 to 78000) fewer official cases in New York State . The framework presented here might be used in any case where cause and effects are sparse in time .