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Rapid Expert Consultations on the COVID-19 Pandemic March 14, 2020-April 8, 2020 (2020) / Chapter Skim
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Rapid Expert Consultation on Social Distancing for the COVID-19 Pandemic (March 19, 2020)
Pages 7-10

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From page 7...
... Office of Science and Technology Policy Executive Office of the President Eisenhower Executive Office Building 1650 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20504 Dear Dr. Droegemeier: This letter responds to your question about evidence on the effectiveness and costs of social distancing measures in contending with COVID-19.
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From page 8...
... cities during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic found that those communities that implemented social distancing measures earlier experienced greater delays in reaching peak mortality, lower peak mortality rates, and lower total mortality.2 In interpreting these data, it is important to note that "social distancing" can cover a wide range of community-based interventions, from closing schools and workplaces to eliminating mass public events to wearing face masks, and it is not always clear exactly which intervention is contributing what degree to the differential outcomes. Also important in the current context are differences between influenza and SARS-CoV-2 in such key attributes as transmission rate, incubation period, uncertainty regarding children as vectors, and pre-existing immunity in the population.
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From page 9...
... A recent modeling exercise reported from Imperial College London10 examined the effectiveness of different social distancing strategies to mitigate or suppress the force of the epidemic in the United Kingdom and the United States. The overall conclusion is that population-wide social distancing in combination with home isolation of cases, quarantine of exposed individuals, and school and university closure could reduce the  5 Milne et al.
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From page 10...
... The continued influx of new cases, probably related to travel, creates an ongoing challenge for the public health authorities there. In the United States, we are embarked on a natural experiment where different communities will likely enact different levels and timing of social distancing relative to the local phase of the epidemic.
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Key Terms

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  • influenza pandemic
  • public transportation
  • public spaces

  • executive office
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  • cordon sanitaire
  • closing schools
  • exposed individuals

  • peak mortality
  • entertainment venues
  • social separation
  • stressing social
  • following social

  • implemented social
  • distancing strategies
  • peak health
  • distancing relative
  • mass public

  • distancing interventions
  • ongoing public
  • public events
  • touch contaminated
  • designated hospitals

  • eliminating mass
  • monitor disease
  • prophylactic agents
  • cal studies
  • control measures


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