Result for
Topic: Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions
July 13, 2020
Working Memory Capacity Predicts Individual Differences in Social-Distancing Compliance during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States
Xie et al. found that adherence to social distancing guidance among participants (2 study populations, n=397 and n-453) surveyed in mid– to late –March was associated with individual differences in working memory capacity, and was partly due to increased awareness of benefits over costs of social distancing. They defined memory capacity as the ability to simultaneously retain multiple pieces of information. This effect persisted after adjustment for other psychological and socioeconomic factors….
July 9, 2020
Association of a Public Health Campaign About Coronavirus Disease 2019 Promoted by News Media and a Social Influencer With Self-Reported Personal Hygiene and Physical Distancing in the Netherlands
A targeted behavioral change campaign aimed at preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the Netherlands that was promoted by a news platform and social media was associated with self-reported improvement in personal hygiene. Cross-sectional analysis of the post–campaign survey (n=17,189) found that that exposure to the video plus infographics (aOR=2.14) and to the infographics alone (aOR=1.31) were positively associated with washing hands. Exposure to the infographics alone and video plus…
July 7, 2020
Visualizing the effectiveness of face masks in obstructing respiratory jets
Using qualitative visualizations of emulated coughs and sneezes, Verma et al. conclude that loosely folded face masks and bandana-style coverings provide minimal stopping-capability for the smallest aerosolized respiratory droplets. Well-fitted homemade masks with multiple layers of quilting fabric and off-the-shelf cone style masks proved to be the most effective in reducing droplet dispersal. They also…
Contact Tracing for Native Americans in Rural Arizona.
Close et al. report the development of an aggressive, integrated early-response plan that relies heavily on contact tracing to limit the spread of COVID-19 in a rural eastern Arizonan community of about 18,000 Native Americans. Since the inception of the staff-intensive program, more than 1,600 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed on the reservation with a case fatality of 1.1%, which…
July 6, 2020
How to Safely Reopen Colleges and Universities During COVID-19: Experiences From Taiwan
Measures used in Taiwan to successfully control the spread SARS-CoV-2 in colleges and universities could inform such re-openings elsewhere. The Ministry of Education in Taiwan established general guidelines for college campuses that include creation of a task force at each university, school-based risk screening based on travel history, occupation, contacts, and clusters, self-management of health and quarantine, general hygiene measures (including wearing masks indoors), principles on…
Association between Mobility Patterns and COVID-19 Transmission in the USA: A Mathematical Modelling Study
Across 25 US counties with high COVID-19 case numbers from January 1 to April 20, 2020, aggregated cell phone data was used to define a mobility ratio (MR) as the change in the number of individual trips made per day, relative to ordinary behavioral patterns before COVID-19. The MR varied from 0.35 in New York City to 0.63 in Harris County, TX. There was a high correlation (>0.7) between decreased…
June 30, 2020
Sentinel Coronavirus Environmental Monitoring Can Contribute to Detecting Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Virus Spreaders and Can Verify Effectiveness of Workplace COVID-19 Controls
[pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Workplace screening of asymptomatic employees in Europe and the US identified otherwise undetected cases in the workplace. Environmental testing showed that locations with SARS-CoV-2 contaminated surfaces were 10 times more likely to have employees who were RT-PCR positive than locations with no or very few positive surfaces. Nine workplace locations in Europe and…
Autoclave Sterilization and Ethanol Treatment of Re-Used Surgical Masks and N95 Respirators during COVID-19: Impact on Their Performance and Integrity
Autoclave sterilization and a 70% ethanol treatment of surgical masks and N95 respirators are commonly utilized by hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic to conserve supplies. However, Grinshpun et al. found that these methods compromise the efficiency, filter breathability, and, in some cases, cause physical damage to these masks. The authors conclude that decontamination and re-use of surgical and N95…
June 26, 2020
Shut and Re-Open the Role of Schools in the Spread of COVID-19 in Europe
[pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Stage et al. compared daily hospitalization trends in northern European countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Germany), and found that the growth rate of COVID-19 cases declined approximately 9 days after implementation of school closures. Limited school attendance did not appear to significantly affect transmission. Reopening of schools for all students in countries with low community transmission (Denmark and Norway) has not…
June 25, 2020
Observational Study of UK Mobile Health Apps for COVID-19
A UK-based study evaluated 82 mobile phone apps released in response to COVID-19 using the Systems Wide Analysis of mobile health-related technologies (SWAT) tool and found that the highest scores were achieved by apps from healthcare organizations such as the National Health Service (NHS) and WHO. Thirty-eight of the apps provided COVID-19 information, 10 were for contact tracing, seven were diagnostic tools,…
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