Human health versus human rights: An emerging ethical dilemma arising from coronavirus disease pandemic

Chia, Terkuma; Oyeniran, Oluwatosin Imoleayo

doi:10.1016/j.jemep.2020.100511

Cited by 25 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(8 reference statements)

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“…Public health policy-making requires navigating the balance of public good and individual rights [ 10 ]. The adoption of universal masking policies is increasingly polarized and politicized, demanding that public health authorities balance the values of health and individual liberty.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mask adherence and rate of COVID-19 across the United States

et al. 2021

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Mask wearing has been advocated by public health officials as a way to reduce the spread of COVID-19. In the United States, policies on mask wearing have varied from state to state over the course of the pandemic. Even as more and more states encourage or even mandate mask wearing, many citizens still resist the notion. Our research examines mask wearing policy and adherence in association with COVID-19 case rates. We used state-level data on mask wearing policy for the general public and on proportion of residents who stated they always wear masks in public. For all 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC), these data were abstracted by month for April ─ September 2020 to measure their impact on COVID-19 rates in the subsequent month (May ─ October 2020). Monthly COVID-19 case rates (number of cases per capita over two weeks) >200 per 100,000 residents were considered high. Fourteen of the 15 states with no mask wearing policy for the general public through September reported a high COVID-19 rate. Of the 8 states with at least 75% mask adherence, none reported a high COVID-19 rate. States with the lowest levels of mask adherence were most likely to have high COVID-19 rates in the subsequent month, independent of mask policy or demographic factors. Mean COVID-19 rates for states with at least 75% mask adherence in the preceding month was 109.26 per 100,000 compared to 249.99 per 100,000 for those with less adherence. Our analysis suggests high adherence to mask wearing could be a key factor in reducing the spread of COVID-19. This association between high mask adherence and reduced COVID-19 rates should influence policy makers and public health officials to focus on ways to improve mask adherence across the population in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mask adherence and rate of COVID-19 across the United States

et al. 2021

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“…The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our lives in many ways. To keep COVID-19 at bay, all of us are faced with several dilemmas in our personal as well as professional lives ( Bauernschmitt et al , 2020 ; Chia and Oyeniran, 2020 ; Jaziri and Alnahdi, 2020 ; McCloskey et al , 2020 ; Napoli et al , 2020 ; Potter et al , 2020 ; and Robert et al , 2020 ). One of the dilemmas we face in day to day life is whether to use an elevator or use a staircase, if possible ( Can I Get Coronavirus From Riding an Elevator?—The New York Times, 2020 ; Coronavirus Contamination of Apartment Buildings, 2020 ; New elevator etiquette, 2020 ; and Offices in COVID-19, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transmission and evaporation of cough droplets in an elevator: Numerical simulations of some possible scenarios

Sen

2021

Physics of Fluids

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As the world learns to live with COVID-19 and activities/business open up, the use of elevators becomes frequent. A pertinent question is what happens if someone accidentally coughs inside the elevator. In this work, a three dimensional Euler–Lagrangian model is used to understand the transmission and evaporation of micrometer-sized droplets in such cases. The effect of turbulence created by the air puff associated with coughing has been considered. Different possible scenarios varying in the presence of air ventilation within the elevator, number of persons coughing, direction of ejection of cough droplets, and ambient relative humidity and temperature have been postulated and simulated. The results obtained show that in the presence of proper ventilation within the elevator, most of the ejected cough droplets fall to the ground before impacting other persons traveling in the same elevator. However, in the absence of proper ventilation, the turbulence created during coughing transmits the particles all across the elevator enclosure.

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“…Public health policy-making requires navigating the balance of public good and individual rights (6). The adoption of universal masking policies is increasingly polarized and politicized, demanding that public health authorities balance the values of health and individual liberty.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mask adherence and rate of COVID-19 across the United States

Fischer

Adrien

Silguero

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Mask wearing has been advocated by public health officials as a way to reduce the spread of COVID-19. In the United States, policies on mask wearing have varied from state to state over the course of the pandemic. Even as more and more government leaders encourage or even mandate mask wearing, many citizens still resist the notion. Our research examines mask-wearing policy and adherence in association with COVID-19 case rates. We used state-level data on mask-wearing policy for the general public and on proportion of residents who stated they always wear masks in public. For all 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC), these data were abstracted by month for April⍰September 2020 to measure their impact on COVID-19 rates in the subsequent month (May⍰October 2020). Monthly COVID-19 case rates (number of cases per capita over two weeks) >200 per 100,000 residents were considered high. Fourteen of the 15 states with no mask-wearing policy for the general public reported a high COVID-19 rate. Of the 8 states with at least 75% mask adherence, none reported a high COVID-19 rate. States with the lowest levels of mask adherence were most likely to have high COVID-19 rates in the subsequent month, independent of mask policy or demographic factors. Our analysis suggests high adherence to mask wearing could be a key factor in reducing the spread of COVID-19. This association between high mask adherence and reduced COVID-19 rates should influence policy makers and public health officials to focus on ways to improve mask adherence across the population in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

show abstract

Human health versus human rights: An emerging ethical dilemma arising from coronavirus disease pandemic

Cited by 25 publications

References 11 publications

Mask adherence and rate of COVID-19 across the United States

Mask adherence and rate of COVID-19 across the United States

Transmission and evaporation of cough droplets in an elevator: Numerical simulations of some possible scenarios

Mask adherence and rate of COVID-19 across the United States

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