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Association of social distancing and face mask use with risk of COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Sohee Kwon

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

  • Amit D. Joshi

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

  • Chun-Han Lo

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

  • David A. Drew

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

  • Long H. Nguyen

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)

  • Chuan-Guo Guo

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    University of Hong Kong)

  • Wenjie Ma

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

  • Raaj S. Mehta

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

  • Fatma Mohamed Shebl

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School)

  • Erica T. Warner

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Vulnerable Populations, and Health Disparities, Massachusetts General Hospital)

  • Christina M. Astley

    (Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard)

  • Jordi Merino

    (Massachusetts General Hospital
    Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
    Harvard Medical School)

  • Benjamin Murray

    (King’s College London)

  • Jonathan Wolf

    (Zoe Limited)

  • Sebastien Ourselin

    (King’s College London)

  • Claire J. Steves

    (King’s College London)

  • Tim D. Spector

    (King’s College London)

  • Jaime E. Hart

    (Brigham and Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)

  • Mingyang Song

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)

  • Trang VoPham

    (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
    University of Washington School of Public Health)

  • Andrew T. Chan

    (Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
    Massachusetts General Hospital
    Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)

Abstract

Given the continued burden of COVID-19 worldwide, there is a high unmet need for data on the effect of social distancing and face mask use to mitigate the risk of COVID-19. We examined the association of community-level social distancing measures and individual face mask use with risk of predicted COVID-19 in a large prospective U.S. cohort study of 198,077 participants. Individuals living in communities with the greatest social distancing had a 31% lower risk of predicted COVID-19 compared with those living in communities with poor social distancing. Self-reported ‘always’ use of face mask was associated with a 62% reduced risk of predicted COVID-19 even among individuals living in a community with poor social distancing. These findings provide support for the efficacy of mask-wearing even in settings of poor social distancing in reducing COVID-19 transmission. Despite mass vaccination campaigns in many parts of the world, continued efforts at social distancing and face mask use remain critically important in reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Suggested Citation

  • Sohee Kwon & Amit D. Joshi & Chun-Han Lo & David A. Drew & Long H. Nguyen & Chuan-Guo Guo & Wenjie Ma & Raaj S. Mehta & Fatma Mohamed Shebl & Erica T. Warner & Christina M. Astley & Jordi Merino & Ben, 2021. "Association of social distancing and face mask use with risk of COVID-19," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-24115-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24115-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Bruno Arpino & Valeria Bordone & Giorgio Di Gessa, 2022. "Close kin influence COVID-19 precautionary behaviors and vaccine acceptance of older individuals," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2022_02, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".

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