Wearing face masks in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic: altruism and solidarity

The Lancet

Volumn 399, Issue 10336, 2022, Pages e39-e40

  Cheng, Kar Keung ^a   Lam, Tai Hing ^b   Leung, Chi Chiu ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG   (Hong Kong)

^c Hong Kong Observatory   (China)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ALTRUISM; COMMUNITY; CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019; ENGLAND; FLU LIKE SYNDROME; HAND WASHING; HONG KONG; HUMAN; INFECTION CONTROL; INFLUENZA; LOCKDOWN; NOTE; PANDEMIC; PUBLIC HEALTH; SOCIAL DISTANCING; SOLIDARITY; SOUTH KOREA; MASK;

ALTRUISM; COVID-19; HUMANS; MASKS; PANDEMICS; SARS-COV-2;

EID: 85083515032     PISSN: 01406736     EISSN: 1474547X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30918-1     Document Type: Note

References (19)

1. WHO. Advice on the use of masks in the community, during home care and in healthcare settings in the context of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak: interim guidance. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/330987, Jan 29, 2020. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
2. Chan, AL-y, Leung, CC, Lam, TH, Cheng, KK, To wear or not to wear: WHO's confusing guidance on masks in the covid-19 pandemic. BMJ Blog, March 11, 2020 https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/03/11/whos-confusing-guidance-masks-covid-19-epidemic/. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
3. WHO. Advice on the use of masks in the context of COVID-19: interim guidance. https://www.who.int/publications-detail/advice-on-the-use-of-masks-in-the-community-during-home-care-and-in-healthcare-settings-in-the-context-of-the-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)-outbreak, April 6, 2020. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
4. Public Health England. Coronavirus (COVID-19)—what you need to know. https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2020/01/23/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-what-you-need-to-know/, Jan 23, 2020. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
5. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recommendation regarding the use of cloth face coverings, especially in areas of significant community-based transmission. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cloth-face-cover.html, April 3, 2020. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
6. Lee, HK, South Korea takes new measures to have enough face masks domestically amid coronavirus. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/International/south-korea-takes-measures-face-masks-domestically-amid/story?id=69254114, April 27, 2020. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
7. Government of Canada. Considerations in the use of homemade masks to protect against COVID-19. Notice to general public and healthcare professionals. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/medical-devices/activities/announcements/covid19-notice-home-made-masks.html, 2020. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
8. Government of the Czech Republic. The government requires the wearing of protective equipment and reserved time for pensioners to do their food shopping. https://www.vlada.cz/en/media-centrum/aktualne/the-government-has-decided-to-require-the-wearing-of-protective-equipment-and-reserved-time-for-senior-citizens-to-do-their-food-shopping-180465/, March 18, 2020. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
9. Howard, J, Huang, A, Li, Z, Tufekci, Z, et al. Face masks against COVID-19: an evidence review. Preprints, 2020 published online April 12. DOI: 10.20944/preprints202004.0203.v1 (preprint).
10. Greenhalgh, T, Schmid, MB, Czypionka, T, Bassler, D, Gruer, L, Face masks for the public during the covid-19 crisis. BMJ, 369, 2020, m1435.
11. Giordano, C, Coronavirus: wearing face masks in public will likely become new norm, says WHO expert. The Independent, April 13, 2020 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-face-masks-who-health-advice-covid-19-expert-a9462391.html. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
12. Mendick, R, Now official advice may be to wear face masks in public to fight coronavirus. The Telegraph, April 13, 2020 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/13/now-official-advice-may-wear-face-masks-public-fight-coronavirus/. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
13. Zou, L, Ruan, F, Huang, M, et al. SARS-CoV-2 viral load in upper respiratory specimens of infected patients. N Engl J Med 382 (2020), 1177–1179.
14. Xiao, J, Shiu, EYC, Gao, H, Wong, JW, Fong, MW, Ryu, S, Cowling, BJ, Nonpharmaceutical measures for pandemic influenza in nonhealthcare settings—personal protective and environmental measures. Emerg Infect Dis, 2020 published online Feb 6. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2605.190994.
15. WHO. Non-pharmaceutical public health measures for mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza. 2019, World Health Organization, Geneva.
16. Rose, G, Sick individuals and sick populations. Int J Epidemiol 14 (1985), 32–38.
17. Cowling, BJ, Ali, ST, Ng, TW, et al. Impact assessment of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19 and influenza in Hong Kong: an observational study. MedRxiv, 2020 published online March 16. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.12.20034660 (preprint).
18. Normile, D, Coronavirus cases have dropped sharply in South Korea. What's the secret to its success?. Science, March 17, 2020 https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/coronavirus-cases-have-dropped-sharply-south-korea-whats-secret-its-success#. (Accessed 15 April 2020)
19. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. NIH developing therapeutics and vaccines for coronaviruses. https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/coronaviruses-therapeutics-vaccines, April 6, 2020. (Accessed 15 April 2020)