Universal Mask-Wearing In US Would Save 130K Lives By Spring 2021, State Compliance: 2 Univ. Studies
'Universal Mask-Wearing Would Save Nearly 130,000 Lives by Spring 2021, Study Finds.' Separate research showed that in states where people frequently or always wear face coverings in public, fewer people know someone who has had symptoms of Covid-19 in their communities. Common Dreams, Oct. 23, 2020. - Ed.:
- Lincoln Mem., Wash., D.C. people wearing face masks, Oct. 16, 2020. A recent study by Carnegie Mellon Univ. found that D.C. has the highest rate of mask-wearing & the lowest % of people who know someone with Covid-19 symptoms.
As Covid-19 cases surged in the U.S- with 8 states setting single-day records on Thursday and hospitals in UT and WI reporting that they're overwhelmed with sick patients - 2 new studies released Friday reaffirmed public health guidance that the more mask-wearing is observed in a community, the less likely it is to face coronavirus outbreaks and deaths. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the Univ. of Wash. released a model showing that nearly 130,000 people's lives would be saved from now until early spring 2021 if the U.S. adopted universal mask-wearing.
"I'd like for people to see this study as a call to action, sort of a wake-up call, especially for those individuals who are unconvinced by the devastation that this pandemic is causing." - Shweta Bansal, Georgetown Univ.
Publishing the study in the journal Nature Medicine, the IHME analyzed the number of cases, testing rates, mask use, and cellphone data to estimate people's movements from the date of the first recorded case in each state through September 21. Using this data, the researchers estimated what the death toll until March 2021 would be for each state if mask-wearing and social distancing mandates are put in place, versus if they are not.
If 95% of the U.S. population spent the remainder of the fall and the winter months following public health guidance to wear face coverings when using public transportation, running errands, working, and doing other activities in public, 129,574 lives would be saved, the IHME estimated. Even compliance by 85% of the public would have a major impact, preventing 95,814 Covid deaths.
"Increasing mask use is one of the best strategies that we have right now to delay the imposition of social distancing mandates and all the economic effects of that, and save lives," Christopher Murray, institute director, told the NYT.
Public health officials are up against the Trump administration as they attempt to convince the public to use face masks..
Shweta Bansal, an infectious disease researcher at Georgetown Univ. who was not involved in the IHME's study, told the NYT that the key finding by the institute is that, "we can will this number [of deaths] out of existence." "I'd like for people to see this study as a call to action, sort of a wake-up call, especially for those individuals who are unconvinced by the devastation that this pandemic is causing."
Carnegie Mellon Univ.'s CovidCast project study, also released Friday, showed how state-by-state, mask-wearing is helping to keep infection rates down—and how low levels of compliance with the public health guidance are having the opposite effect. Researchers partnered with Facebook to survey users about their mask-wearing habits and whether they know people in their communities who have had Covid-19 symptoms:
In Wash., D.C. residents reported the highest level of mask-wearing in the U.S., with 97% of respondents saying they wear face coverings whenever they are out in public. Just 11% said they knew someone who had had Covid-19.
In RI and MA, where 93% of respondents said they always wear masks, 16% and 13%, respectively, said they knew someone who had had the illness.
In SD, just 65% of respondents said they regularly use a face mask, and 45% said they knew someone who had developed symptoms of the disease.
In WY, 63% of residents said they wear masks, and 36% reported someone in their community had had symptoms...
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/23/universal-mask-wearing-would-save-nearly-130000-lives-spring-2021-study-finds
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