Chi-Chung Cheng, Vincent
Wong, Shuk-Ching
Wai-Man Chuang, Vivien
Yung-Chun So, Simon
Hon-Kwan Chen, Jonathan
Sridhar, Siddharth
Kai-Wang To, Kelvin
Fuk-Woo Chan, Jasper
Fan-Ngai Hung, Ivan
Ho, Pak-Leung
Yuen, Kwok-Yung
2020-07-31T21:30:24Z
2020-07-31T21:30:24Z
2020
0163-4453
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2020.04.024
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12010/11507
Background: Face mask usage by the healthy population in the community to reduce risk of transmission
of respiratory viruses remains controversial. We assessed the effect of community-wide mask usage to
control coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
Methods: Patients presenting with respiratory symptoms at outpatient clinics or hospital wards were
screened for COVID-19 per protocol. Epidemiological analysis was performed for confirmed cases, especially persons acquiring COVID-19 during mask-off and mask-on settings. The incidence of COVID-19 per
million population in HKSAR with community-wide masking was compared to that of non-mask-wearing
countries which are comparable with HKSAR in terms of population density, healthcare system, BCG vaccination and social distancing measures but not community-wide masking. Compliance of face mask usage in the HKSAR community was monitored.
Findings: Within first 100 days (31 December 2019 to 8 April 2020), 961 COVID-19 patients were diagnosed in HKSAR. The COVID-19 incidence in HKSAR (129.0 per million population) was significantly lower
(p<0.001) than that of Spain (2983.2), Italy (2250.8), Germany (1241.5), France (1151.6), U.S. (1102.8), U.K.
(831.5), Singapore (259.8), and South Korea (200.5). The compliance of face mask usage by HKSAR general public was 96.6% (range: 95.7% to 97.2%). We observed 11 COVID-19 clusters in recreational ‘mask-off’
settings compared to only 3 in workplace ‘mask-on’ settings (p = 0.036 by Chi square test of goodness-offit).
Conclusion: Community-wide mask wearing may contribute to the control of COVID-19 by reducing the
amount of emission of infected saliva and respiratory droplets from individuals with subclinical or mild
COVID-19.
8 páginas
image/jepg
Journal of Infection
reponame:Expeditio Repositorio Institucional UJTL
instname:Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano
Face mask
Community
Coronavirus
COVID-19
SARS-COV-2
Epidemic
The role of community-wide wearing of face mask for control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic due to SARS-CoV-2
Artículo
Síndrome respiratorio agudo grave
COVID-19
SARS-CoV-2
Coronavirus
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2020.04.024