Cited by 35COVID-19 epidemiological studiesInfection Control and VentilationCOVID-19 Prevention and Impact

The Impact of COVID-19 Management Policies Tailored to Airborne SARS-CoV-2 Transmission: Policy Analysis

Open access
Telles, Charles Roberto, Roy, Archisman, Ajmal, Mohammad Rehan, Mustafa, Syed Khalid, Ahmad, Mohammad Ayaz, de la Serna, Juan Moises, Frigo, Elisandro Pires, Rosales, Manuel Hernández·2021·JMIR Public Health and Surveillance

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Background: Daily new COVID-19 cases from January to April 2020 demonstrate varying patterns of SARS-CoV-2 transmission across different geographical regions. Constant infection rates were observed in some countries, whereas China and South Korea had a very low number of daily new cases. In fact, China and South Korea successfully and quickly flattened their COVID-19 curve. To understand why this was the case, this paper investigated possible aerosol-forming patterns in the atmosphere and their relationship to the policy measures adopted by select countries. Objective: The main research objective was to compare the outcomes of policies adopted by countries between January and April 2020. Policies included physical distancing measures that in some cases were associated with mask use and city disinfection. We investigated whether the type of social distancing framework adopted by some countries (ie, without mask use and city disinfection) led to the continual dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 (daily new cases) in the community during the study period. Methods: We examined the policies used as a preventive framework for virus community transmission in some countries and compared them to the policies adopted by China and South Korea. Countries that used a policy of social distancing by 1-2 m were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of countries that implemented social distancing (1-2 m) only, and the second comprised China and South Korea, which implemented distancing with additional transmission/isolation measures using masks and city disinfection. Global daily case maps from Johns Hopkins University were used to provide time-series data for the analysis. Results: The results showed that virus transmission was reduced due to policies affecting SARS-CoV-2 propagation over time. Remarkably, China and South Korea obtained substantially better results than other countries at the beginning of the epidemic due to their adoption of social distancing (1-2 m) with the additional use of masks and sanitization (city disinfection). These measures proved to be effective due to the atmosphere carrier potential of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Conclusions: Our findings confirm that social distancing by 1-2 m with mask use and city disinfection yields positive outcomes. These strategies should be incorporated into prevention and control policies and be adopted both globally and by individuals as a method to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

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  1. [19]Isolation Precautions: Personal Protective Equipment Elsevier 2020-02-14 https://www.elsevier.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/974623/Isolation-Precautions_Personal-Protective-Equipment.pdf
  2. [57]Wickramasinghe N Steele E Gorczynski R Temple R Tokoro G Wallis D Klyce B Growing evidence against global infection-driven by person-to-person transfer of COVID-19 viXra. Preprint posted online March 3, 2020
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Authors
Telles, C. R., Roy, A., Ajmal, M. R., Mustafa, S. K., Ahmad, M. A., de la Serna, J. M., Frigo, E. P., & Rosales, M. H.
Affiliations
  • Banaras Hindu University (IN)
  • University of Tabuk (SA)
  • Universidade Federal do Paraná (BR)
  • Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX)
Corresponding author
Telles, Charles Roberto
Venue
JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Published
2021-04-21
Volume
7
Issue
4
Pages
e20699
ISSN
2369-2960 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3106008323
Cited by
35
References
67
Citations by year
2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 2
FWCI
1.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Re-Unir (International University of La Rioja) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Greater South Information System
Funders
  • Universidade Estadual de Campinas
  • Office of Science
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › COVID-19 Prevention and Impact
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, airborne transmission, social distancing, masking, non-pharmaceutical interventions, COVID-19 policy, China, South Korea, epidemic control, daily case counts
MeSH terms
Physical Distancing, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Air Microbiology, China, Cities, Disinfection, Humans, Masks, Policy Making, Global Health, Republic of Korea, Policy

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