Researchers are exploring whether these ubiquitous fluorinated molecules might worsen infections or hamper vaccine effectiveness.
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One of the greatest challenges to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic is the need to develop new economic policies that steer nations safely between the Scylla of exponentially increasing infection rates and the Charybdis of a severe economic downturn. The obvious solution to curtail the rapidly increasing rate of COVID-19 infection is “lockdown”—government sanctions that limit the physical mobility of citizens within a city, region, or entire nation. However, strict lockdown policies can severely impact a wide range of economic sectors (1). Moreover, these policies can have compounding social consequences, disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations and women (2). The other side of the dilemma is equally treacherous. If public policies are unable to prevent the unchecked growth of the pandemic, the disease will spread aggressively, ultimately undercutting the stability of an even wider range of economic sectors and resulting in graver social consequences (3). In PNAS, Nishi et al. (4) bravely propose a solution to this critical dilemma. Using the lockdown model as their baseline measure for an effective disease prevention strategy, Nishi et al. (4) use computational “experiments” to explore the effectiveness of adopting public health policies that might sustain normal economic activity—in schools, offices, restaurants, and supermarkets—while steering clear of the deadly consequences of unchecked disease transmission.
The Network Approach to Lockdown
The core idea behind their approach is to focus on social networks. Social contact networks are the primary pathways for the transmission of COVID-19 (5). There are several different kinds of interpersonal networks—such as intimate partner networks, family and friend networks, acquaintanceship and coworker networks, and causal/accidental contact networks (e.g., in a grocery store or a subway). All of these networks can be pathways for COVID-19 transmission. However, the likelihood of transmission increases with the duration and closeness of contact. Building on well-established social networks research on the differences between “strong ties” …
↵1Email: dcentola{at}asc.upenn.edu.
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Considering network interventions
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