Abstract
Mask Up: Academic-Community-Government Partnerships to Advance Public Health During COVID-19.
Highlights
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected more than 23 million individuals globally through August 2020.1 More than 5.7 million of those cases were in the United States with more than 175,000 deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).[1]In Ohio, there have been more than 115,000 cases and 4000 deaths during the same time period
The segments of our population made vulnerable because of challenging social and structural determinants and/or rapid changes related to the COVID-19 response will be, hereafter, referred to as ‘‘vulnerable populations.’’ In Ohio and across the United States, vulnerable populations have disproportionately higher rates of chronic diseases including hypertension, obesity, and diabetes, which are associated with increased COVID-19 hospitalizations.[3]
A meta-analysis demonstrated the effectiveness of face masks in reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2.4 Modeling has shown that face mask use can decrease the average number of secondary cases per infectious case in a population made up of both susceptible and non-susceptible hosts to less than 1.5 Lastly, contemporaneous United States natural experiments show that states mandating face mask use in public is associated with a decline in the daily COVID-19 growth rate.[6]
Summary
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected more than 23 million individuals globally through August 2020.1 More than 5.7 million of those cases were in the United States with more than 175,000 deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).[1]In Ohio, there have been more than 115,000 cases and 4000 deaths during the same time period. Methods for preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission are pivotal to mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in communities across Ohio and the United States. One potential solution is the distribution of community care kits–including nonclinical isolation-grade masks, soaps, and hand sanitizers–in vulnerable communities paired with education media campaigns promoting face mask wearing, social distancing, and hand hygiene via academic-community-government partnerships (Figure 1).
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