Implementing a nationwide mask mandate, coupled with complementary public health measures, could reduce the spread of the coronavirus to near zero and have a potential $ 1 billion impact on U.S. GDP, according to researchers at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
The team’s research “makes it clear that even as vaccines are developed and new variants, such as B.1.7.7, are discovered, the power to protect ourselves still remains in our hands as individuals,” said Anne Rimoin, ‘ n UCLA, said. Fielding School Professor of Epidemiology.
“Wearing a mask is one of the simplest, most effective and cheapest ways to do exactly that – and this has been proven by the history of epidemiology over the past century, back to the flu pandemic of 1918-19 and even before, she said. said.
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“Reducing the spread of disease requires two things: limiting contact of infected individuals through physical distance and other measures and the chance of transmission by contact,” said Christina Ramirez, a professor of biostatistics at Fielding School. “The predominance of evidence indicates that mask wear is reduced per contact by reducing the transmission of contaminated respiratory particles in both laboratory and clinical contexts.”
The findings, published in the January issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed journal, were the work of an international team of 19 UCLA specialists and more than a dozen other universities and research centers. including the University of Oxford, the University of Cape Town, the University of Beijing, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of San Francisco.
R0, pronounced ‘R zero’, is a mathematical term that indicates how contagious an infectious disease is. It is also called the reproduction number. As an infection is transmitted to new people, it reproduces itself. Reducing reproduction to zero could in turn contribute $ 1 trillion to US GDP, the authors said.
“When used in conjunction with widespread testing, contact tracing, quarantine of anyone infected, hand washing, and physical distance, face masks are a valuable tool in reducing community transmission,” Rimoin said. ‘All these measures, by their effect on R0, can reduce the number of infections. As governments lock up
To reach their conclusions, the team examined a wide range of new and existing studies and research, including work dating back to an outbreak of plague in northeastern China in 1910. According to the researchers, scientists may or may not have realized that the cloth mask was ‘the main means of personal protection’.
There is also ample evidence from the current pandemic, said co-author of the study, Jeremy Howard, a researcher at the University of San Francisco.
‘By the end of June 2020, nearly 90% of the world’s population lived in regions that used almost universal masks, or had laws requiring masks in some public places, and the use of community masks was recommended by almost all major public health agencies. Said Howard. “This is a drastic change since the early days of the pandemic, when masks were rarely recommended or used.”
The researchers came to a variety of conclusions, including:
masks were 79% effective in preventing transmission, if used by all household members before symptoms occurred;
-the use of masks was strongly protective, with a risk reduction of 70% for those who always wore a mask when going out;
broadcast was 7.5 times higher in countries that did not have a mask mandate;
-the difference between US states with mask mandates and those without the daily growth rate being 2 percentage points lower in states with mask mandates, and estimated that by 22 May the mandates prevented 230,000 to 450,000 COVID-19 cases;
face masks have a major reduction effect on infections and deaths, with a potential impact on US GDP of $ 1 trillion if a nationwide mask mandate is applied; and
– the marginal benefit per cloth mask worn is between $ 3000 and $ 6000.
City News Service contributed to this report.