id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
cord-260429-5wsj003j	Kenyon, Chris	Widespread use of face masks in public may slow the spread of SARS CoV-2: an ecological study	2020-04-06		.txt	text/plain	2260	160	61	title: Widespread use of face masks in public may slow the spread of SARS CoV-2: an ecological study Individual level studies have found that the use of face masks was protective for the acquisition and transmission of a range of respiratory viruses including SARS CoV1. Methods At a country level, linear regression was used to assess the association between COVID19 diagnoses per inhabitant and the national promotion of face masks in public (coded as a binary variable), controlling for the age of the COVID19 epidemic and testing intensity. Conclusion Whilst these results are susceptible to residual confounding, they do provide ecological level support to the individual level studies that found face mask usage to reduce the transmission and acquisition of respiratory viral infections. /2020 In this ecological study we found that countries that promoted widespread face mask 185 usage had lower cumulative numbers of COVID-19 diagnosed after controlling for 186 testing intensity and age of the epidemic.	./cache/cord-260429-5wsj003j.txt	./txt/cord-260429-5wsj003j.txt