Social and behavioral consequences of mask policies during the COVID-19 pandemic

Betsch, Cornelia; Korn, Lars; Sprengholz, Philipp; Felgendreff, Lisa; Eitze, Sarah; Schmid, Philipp; Böhm, Robert

doi:10.1073/pnas.2011674117

Cited by 251 publications

(195 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…For instance, Gostic and colleagues find that traveler screening was not particularly effective at containing the pandemic due to a large number of presymptomatic and asymptomatic travelers [36]. Facemask policies are also unlikely to help a country reach required thresholds of disease containment if the policies are loosely enforced and mask wearing remains a voluntary practice [37].…”

Section: Existing Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which COVID policies are most effective? A Bayesian analysis of COVID-19 by jurisdiction

Wibbens

Koo

McGahan

2020

Preprint

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This paper reports the results of a Bayesian analysis on large-scale empirical data to assess the effectiveness of eleven types of COVID-control policies that have been implemented at various levels of intensity in 40 countries and U.S. states since the onset of the pandemic. The analysis estimates the marginal impact of each type and level of policy as implemented in concert with other policies. The purpose is to provide policymakers and the general public with an estimate of the relative effectiveness of various COVID-control strategies. We find that a set of widely implemented core policies reduces the spread of virus but not by enough to contain the pandemic except in a few highly compliant jurisdictions. The core policies include the cancellation of public events, restriction of gatherings to fewer than 100 people, recommendation to stay at home, recommended restrictions on internal movement, implementation of a partial international travel ban, and coordination of information campaigns. For the median jurisdiction, these policies reduce growth rate in new infections from an estimated 270% per week to approximately 49% per week, but this impact is insufficient to prevent eventual transmission throughout the population because containment occurs only when a jurisdiction reduces growth in COVID infection to below zero. Most jurisdictions must also implement additional policies, each of which has the potential to reduce weekly COVID growth rate by 10 percentage points or more. The slate of these additional high-impact policies includes targeted or full workplace closings for all but essential workers, stay-at-home requirements, and targeted school closures.

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Section: Existing Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which COVID policies are most effective? A Bayesian analysis of COVID-19 by jurisdiction

Wibbens

Koo

McGahan

2020

Preprint

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“…Policymakers worldwide are increasingly seeking evidence-based policy instruments to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. While anecdotal evidence and laboratory experiments have shown the e cacy of mask-wearing in reducing infection chances, 4,5,15,16 the strength of the mandate's short and long-term effects relative to other NPIs has not been examined in observational studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individual studies have assessed the e cacies of different NPIs. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Yet, despite their demonstrated effectiveness, many NPIs hurt the economy and other aspects of social and personal wellbeing. 7 Still, little is known about how NPIs compare in their relative e cacies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Early Mask Mandates and Other Policy Interventions on COVID-19 Infections

An¹,

Porcher²,

Tang³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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How do different government mandates compare in their short and long-term efficacies in curbing COVID-19 infections? Does a mandate’s early adoption enhance its eventual efficacy? Using worldwide data on the daily evolution of government mandate adoptions and COVID-19 infections from January to July 2020, we found that, compared with five other commonly adopted mandates, early adoption of the mask mandate has the strongest short and long-term effect on curbing infections. Mass gathering bans and school closures have some effect but take more time to manifest their efficacy. Domestic lockdowns and restaurant closures have the least effect. When designing measures for curbing COVID-19 infections, governments must weigh the timing and relative efficacies of alternative policy instruments.

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Section: Behavioural Considerations Of Single-use and Reusable Masksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One study with German participants demonstrated that mandating, rather than encouraging, mask use caused a higher level of compliance, with other protective behaviour correlated positively (53). It stated further that voluntary policy caused lower compliance of mask use and could intensify social stigma between people with and without masks (53). An Italian study suggested that wearing masks causes people to comply with social distancing rules (54), adding to growing body of evidence of this effect (55), although there are no studies yet of the differences in these behaviours which correlate with single-use or reusable masks.…”

Section: Behavioural Considerations Of Single-use and Reusable Masksmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact and effectiveness of the general public wearing masks to reduce the spread of pandemics in the UK: a multidisciplinary comparison of single-use masks versus reusable face masks.

Allison

Ambrose-Dempster

Aparsi

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK government has mandated the use of face masks in various public settings and recommends the use of reusable masks to combat shortages of medically graded single-use masks in healthcare. To assist decision-making on the choice of masks for future pandemics, where shortages may not be a contributing factor, the UCL Plastic Waste Innovation Hub has carried out a multidisciplinary comparison between single-use and reusable masks based on their anatomy, standalone effectiveness, behavioural considerations, environmental impacts and costs. Although current single-use masks have a higher standalone effectiveness against bacteria and viruses, studies show that reusable masks have adequate performance in slowing infection rates of respiratory viruses. Material Flow Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment and cost comparison show that reusable masks have a lower environmental and economic impact than single-use masks. If every person in the UK uses one single-use mask each day for a year, it will create a total waste of 124,000 tonnes, 66,000 tonnes of which would be unrecyclable contaminated plastic waste. Using reusable masks creates >85% less waste, generates 3.5 times lower impact on climate change and incurs 3.7 times lower costs. Further behavioural research is necessary to understand the extent and current practices of mask use, and its effectiveness in reducing infection rates. Wearing single-use masks may be preferred over reusable masks due to perceptions of increased hygiene and convenience. Understanding behaviour towards the regular machine-washing of reusable masks for their effective reuse is key to maximise their public health benefits and minimise environmental and economic costs.

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Social and behavioral consequences of mask policies during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 251 publications

References 15 publications

Which COVID policies are most effective? A Bayesian analysis of COVID-19 by jurisdiction

Which COVID policies are most effective? A Bayesian analysis of COVID-19 by jurisdiction

Effects of Early Mask Mandates and Other Policy Interventions on COVID-19 Infections

The impact and effectiveness of the general public wearing masks to reduce the spread of pandemics in the UK: a multidisciplinary comparison of single-use masks versus reusable face masks.

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