Effectiveness of Face Coverings in Mitigating the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century. Many prevalent measures have been taken to prevent its spread and protect the public. However, the use of face coverings as an effective preventive measure remains contentious. The goal of the current study is to evaluate the effectiveness of face coverings as a protective measure. We examined the effectiveness of face coverings between 1 April and 31 December 2020. This was accomplished by analyzing trends of daily new COVID-19 cases, cumulative confirmed cases, and cases per 100,000 people in different U.S. states, including the District of Columbia. The results indicated a sharp change in trends after face covering mandates. For the 32 states with face covering mandates, 63% and 66% exhibited a downward trend in confirmed cases within 21 and 28 days of implementation, respectively. We estimated that face covering mandates in the 32 states prevented approximately 78,571 and 109,703 cases within 21- and 28-day periods post face covering mandate, respectively. A statistically significant (p = 0.001) negative correlation (−0.54) was observed between the rate of cases and days since the adoption of a face covering mandate. We concluded that the use of face coverings can provide necessary protection if they are properly used.

Mask use in community settings in the context of COVID-19: A systematic review of ecological data

“…All studies reported a protective benefit in terms of either reduced incidence, mortality, hospitalization, or a combination of these outcomes. This review summarized the literature up to March 2021, since which time a number of additional studies have reported a protective benefit impact of community mask wearing by the general public in community settings using ecological data [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] . While the results of these individual studies support the findings of this review, the large amount of research being done to assess community mask wearing warrants future systematic assessment.…”

Preparation of surface-functionalized electrospun PVA nanowebs for potential remedy for SARS-CoV-2

“…Infections with coronaviruses remain a burden negatively affecting human life. The 2 major routes of transmission are airborne and direct contact ( Ayodeji and Ramkumar, 2021 ) but the dominant route is airborne ( Zhang et al, 2020 ). While the effectiveness of ZnO coatings on surfaces to prevent fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been reported, the use of ZnO in barrier face coverings to control the airborne spread of the virus has not been fully explored.…”

Particle-Size-Dependent Filtration Efficiency, Breathability, and Flow Resistance of Face Coverings and Common Household Fabrics Used for Face Masks During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the social interactions, economy, culture, and health of billions of people around the globe (Gopalan and Misra 2020 ; Mofijur et al 2021 ). During the outbreak, widespread lockdowns, physical and social distancing (Drewnick et al 2021 ; Marroquin et al 2020 ), travel restrictions (Beck and Hensher 2020 ), and wearing of face coverings (Ayodeji and Ramkumar 2021 ; Zhang et al 2020 ) were the major mitigation measures to protect public health. The wearing of face coverings followed recommendations from the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that barrier face coverings protect both the wearer and others from infection through exposure to droplets and aerosols carrying infectious virus (CDC 2020a ; b ; WHO 2020a , b ).…”