Association Between Universal Masking in a Health Care System and SARS-CoV-2 Positivity Among Health Care Workers

Xiaowen Wang; Enrico G Ferro; Guohai Zhou; Dean Hashimoto; Deepak L Bhatt

doi:10.1001/jama.2020.12897

Association Between Universal Masking in a Health Care System and SARS-CoV-2 Positivity Among Health Care Workers

JAMA. 2020 Aug 18;324(7):703-704. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.12897.

Authors

Xiaowen Wang¹, Enrico G Ferro², Guohai Zhou³, Dean Hashimoto⁴, Deepak L Bhatt¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
² Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
³ Center for Clinical Investigation, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
⁴ Occupational Health Services, Mass General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts.

Abstract

This study describes SARS-CoV-2 PCR test positivity among health care workers before, during, and after implementation of a policy requiring universal masking of all health care workers and patients in a large health care system in Massachusetts.

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19 / epidemiology*
COVID-19 / prevention & control
COVID-19 / transmission
Disease Transmission, Infectious / prevention & control*
Female
Health Personnel*
Hospitals
Humans
Infection Control*
Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional / prevention & control
Male
Masks*
Massachusetts / epidemiology
SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification*