Abstract
Government of Tamil Nadu, India, mandated the face mask wearing in public places as one of the mitigation measures of COVID-19. We established a surveillance system for monitoring the face mask usage. This study aimed to estimate the proportion of the population who wear face masks appropriately (covering nose, mouth, and chin) in the slums and non-slums of Chennai at different time points. We conducted cross-sectional surveys among the residents of Chennai at two-time points of October and December 2020. The sample size for outdoor mask compliance for the first and second rounds of the survey was 1800 and 1600, respectively, for each of the two subgroups-slums and non-slums. In the second round, we included 640 individuals each in the slums and non-slums indoor public places and 1650 individuals in eleven shopping malls. We calculated the proportions and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for the mask compliance outdoors and indoors by age, gender, region, and setting (slum and non-slum). We observed 3600 and 3200 individuals in the first and second surveys, respectively, for outdoor mask compliance. In both rounds, the prevalence of appropriate mask use outdoors was significantly lower in the slums (28%-29%) than non-slum areas (36%-35%) of Chennai (p<0.01). Outdoor mask compliance was similar within slum and non-slum subgroups across the two surveys. Lack of mask use was higher in the non-slums in the second round (50%) than in the first round of the survey (43%) (p<0.05). In the indoor settings in the 2nd survey, 10%-11% among 1280 individuals wore masks appropriately. Of the 1650 observed in the malls, 947 (57%) wore masks appropriately. Nearly one-third of residents of Chennai, India, correctly wore masks in public places. We recommend periodic surveys, enforcement of mask compliance in public places, and mass media campaigns to promote appropriate mask use.
Highlights
Wearing a mask is one of the simplest ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19
The consistent practice of mask use in public places irrespective of the symptoms could control the spread of COVID-19 effectively [5]
Mask mandate in public health places led to decreases in COVID-19 cases and mortality in a different province of the United States [5]
Summary
Wearing a mask is one of the simplest ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Masks can prevent the spread of COVID-19 in two ways: by preventing a healthy person from acquiring the disease and by preventing an infected person from spreading the disease. The mask decreases the hand-face contacts, which prevents the infection through contaminated fomites [4]. The consistent practice of mask use in public places irrespective of the symptoms could control the spread of COVID-19 effectively [5]. The benefits of mask use are known, compliance to mask use is not routinely monitored in low resource settings as a step towards mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Mask mandate in public health places led to decreases in COVID-19 cases and mortality in a different province of the United States [5]
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