• Direct: latest news about the coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic has spread in almost every country in the world since it first emerged in China in December 2019. Many have been the countries that have implemented social distancing as one of the key measures to flatten the curve. However, when in many of the countries where in March or April the contagion curve was shot up and seemed to slow down, they are experiencing what many experts consider to be a new wave , due to the countless outbreaks registered.

Assessing the impact of government-imposed social distancing and other measures to control further spread of Covid-19 is urgent, especially given the large social and economic impact of Covid-19 . A study, conducted by researchers at Utrech University Medical Center and published in the journal PLoS Medicine, points to three simple gestures that could stop coronavirus outbreaks , even without a vaccine or treatment for Covid-19.

"A major epidemic can be prevented if the effectiveness of these measures exceeds 50%," the researchers say. "Our results suggest that dissemination of information about Covid-19 , leading to individual adoption of handwashing, facemasking, and social distancing, may be an effective strategy to mitigate and delay the epidemic."

The researchers argue that governments should educate the public about how the virus spreads and raise awareness about the crucial roles of social distancing, washing hands, or protecting themselves with face masks.

The authors of the study spatially emphasize social distancing, which they claim that if imposed it can generate time for health systems to prepare for an increasing load of Covid-19 . "The delay in the maximum number of diagnoses can be even longer and the height of the peak can be further reduced if the same intervention is combined with self-imposed measures that continue after lifting the social distancing imposed by governments," they say.

Therefore, they indicate that raising awareness of self-imposed measures such as hand washing and the use of masks "is crucial to control the ongoing epidemic." In addition to social distancing policies, "governments and public health institutions must continually mobilize people to take self-imposed measures with proven effectiveness to successfully tackle Covid-19 ."

"In practical terms, it means that SARS-CoV-2 will not cause a major outbreak in a country where 90% of the population adopts hand washing and social distancing that are 25% effective," they add.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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