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Comment
. 2020 Sep;81(3):e1-e5.
doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2020.07.015. Epub 2020 Jul 17.

Mass masking as a way to contain COVID-19 and exit lockdown in low- and middle-income countries

Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo  1 , Supa Pengpid  2 , Edlaine Faria de Moura Villela  3 , Vo Van Thang  4 , Mohammed Ahmed  5 , John Ditekemena  6 , Bernardo Vega Crespo  7 , Rhoda K Wanyenze  8 , Janeth Dula  9 , Takashi Watanabe  10 , Christopher Delgado-Ratto  11 , Koen Vanden Driessche  12 , Rafael Van den Bergh  11 , Robert Colebunders  11
Affiliations
Comment

Mass masking as a way to contain COVID-19 and exit lockdown in low- and middle-income countries

Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo et al. J Infect. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

In new guidelines published on June 5th 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that in areas with ongoing COVID-19 community transmission, governments should encourage the general public to wear face masks in specific situations and settings as part of a comprehensive approach to suppress COVID-19 transmission. Recent online surveys in 206,729 persons residing in nine low- and middle-income countries showed that 32.7%-99.7% of respondents used face masks with significant differences across age groups and sexes. Targeted health promotion strategies and government support are required to increase mask use by the general population.

Keywords: COVID-19; Face masks; Lockdown; Low- and middle-income countries; Prevention; World Health Organization.

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References

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