Kim Sookhyun, Oh Jiyoung, Tak Sangwoo
Division of Risk Assessment, Bureau of Public Health Emergency Preparedness, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Korea.
Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2023 Feb;14(1):31-39. doi: 10.24171/j.phrp.2022.0287. Epub 2023 Feb 1.
This study was conducted to determine the impact of the strengthening or relaxation of face covering mandates on the subsequent national case incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Europe as the full vaccination rate was increasing.
European countries in which case incidence increased for 3 consecutive weeks were monitored and analyzed using COVID-19 incidence data shared by the World Health Organization (WHO). The epidemic trend of COVID-19 in Europe was compared with that of countries elsewhere in the world based on WHO weekly epidemiological reports from June 20 to October 30, 2021. In addition, this study provided insight into the impact of government mask mandates on COVID-19 incidence in Europe by measuring the index scores of those facial covering policies before and after mandate relaxation or strengthening. The effects of the vaccination rate and the speed of vaccination on COVID-19 incidence were also analyzed.
The incidence of COVID-19 after the relaxation of face covering mandates was significantly higher than before relaxation. However, no significant difference was observed in vaccination rate between countries with increased and decreased incidence. Instead, rapid vaccination delayed the resurgence in incidence.
The findings suggest that face covering policies in conjunction with rapid vaccination efforts are essential to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
本研究旨在确定在欧洲全面疫苗接种率上升的情况下，加强或放宽口罩强制令对随后的2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）全国病例发病率的影响。
利用世界卫生组织（WHO）共享的COVID-19发病率数据，对连续3周病例发病率上升的欧洲国家进行监测和分析。根据WHO 2021年6月20日至10月30日的每周流行病学报告，将欧洲COVID-19的流行趋势与世界其他地区国家的流行趋势进行比较。此外，本研究通过测量口罩强制令放宽或加强前后面部遮盖政策的指数得分，深入了解政府口罩强制令对欧洲COVID-19发病率的影响。还分析了疫苗接种率和接种速度对COVID-19发病率的影响。
放宽口罩强制令后的COVID-19发病率显著高于放宽前。然而，发病率上升和下降的国家之间在疫苗接种率方面未观察到显著差异。相反，快速接种疫苗延缓了发病率的回升。
研究结果表明，口罩政策与快速接种疫苗努力相结合对于帮助减轻COVID-19的传播至关重要。
