Infectious Disease Control

V. Key Issues: Population Health >> E. Health Protection >> Infectious Disease Control (last updated: 7.16.20)

Topic Outline

1 COVID-19
2 Resources

COVID-19

Personal Risk Factors

Erin Bromage. The Risks – Know Them – Avoid Them (5-6-20).
Jonathan Kay. COVID-19 Superspreader Events in 28 Countries: Critical Patterns and Lessons (Quillete: 4-23-20).
Sigal Samuel. Why you ’re unlikely to get the coronavirus from runners or cyclists (VOX: 4-24-20)
Conover, Christopher J. Estimated Gain in Life Expectancy from One Day of Mask Use by a One Patient Infected with COVID-19 or Average Person in Population (July 2020). See spreadsheet for calculations: MaskDeaths .

On average, a COVID-19-infected patient who fails to wear a mask for a single day reduces life expectancy by 7.9 hours among downstream patients whose infections could have been averted by mask use.
On average, an asymptomatic American whose COVID-19 infection status is unknown and who fails to wear a mask for a single day reduces life expectancy by 6.4 minutes (this takes into account all infections that could have been averted by mask use, including those of downstream patients as well as the non-mask-wearing patient). This figure could be as low as 6 minutes or as high as 30 minutes depending on assumptions about the transmissibility and lethality of the disease.

Cost of COVID-19 Deaths

Cost per COVID-19 Death. Using 8 alternative approaches to assigning a value to preventing a COVID-19 death, Duke University’s Christopher Conover estimates that the average COVID-19 death has a loss valued at between $0.8 to $5.0 million, depending on the method used. (calculations in COVID19 Value of Lost Lives).

Aggregate Mortality Losses. In the same worksheet, Conover estimates that the first 150,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have resulted in an aggregate mortality loss ranging from $118.6 billion to $751.2 billion.