In the ongoing debate over the effectiveness of the coronavirus face mask, a new study published this week suggests that the widespread use of face masks may help prevent major outbreaks of COVID-19.
The study, published Tuesday in The Lancet Digital Health, surveyed more than 300,000 Americans age 13 and older about their masked behavior. Participants were asked how likely they would be to wear a face mask while in public places, such as buying groceries, or visiting family and friends who do not live in their household.
Of those who responded, 85% said they were “very likely” to wear a mask while shopping, and about 40% said the same about visiting family and friends. Overall, those 65 years of age or older reported wearing a mask, as did black and Hispanic Americans and those living in a large urban area.
In the end, a ‘logistics model’ that controlled physical distance, population demographics and other variables ‘found that a 10% increase in self-reported mask wear was associated with an increased chance of transfer control,’ the researchers from the Boston Children’s Hospital said. wrote.
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In other words, the researchers found that only a 10% increase in the face mask worn by those within a certain zip code doubles the chance that the community can control the transmission of viruses, or the chances of the reproduction number of to retain the coronavirus, triple (R0) under one.
An R0 is a mathematical term related to how contagious a disease is, or the average number of people who contract the disease from a single person infected with it. A R0 below one indicates that a disease “will subside and eventually become extinct,” according to Healthline.
While the authors of the study identified certain limitations – for example, they did not explain the tracing and testing of contact and the participants were asked to report their mask behavior themselves – they eventually concluded that ‘communities with a high and mask-like mask-wear distance had the greatest predicted probability of transmission control. ‘
‘The widespread use of face masks in combination with physical distance increases the chances of SARS-CoV-2 transmission control. Self-reported mask wear increases separately from the mandate of the government mask, suggesting that complementary public health interventions are needed to maximize adoption and assistance to curb the ongoing epidemic. ‘
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“The evidence is clear: masks work,” said Dr. Hannah Clapham of the National University of Singapore said in an article accompanying the study.
However, she noted: “its use is a non-targeted control measure, involving the entire population, rather than merely known or suspected cases.”
Or, in other words, “buying society as a whole is therefore necessary for the success of the intervention,” she wrote.