Stuart Winer is editor of the Times of Israel.
“Public aptitude measures such as movement restrictions, social remoteness, and improved non-public hygiene probably had an effect on the relief of influenza and other respiratory virus transmissions,” the World Health Organization told Nature at one point.
In April, the medical journal Lancet published a report on a shortened flu season in Hong Kong, triggered by a reaction to coronavirus that spreads around the world.
The report found that “non-pharmaceutical interventions (including border restrictions, quarantine and isolation, estrangement and adjustments in population behavior) were related to reduced COVID-19 transmission in Hong Kong, and are also very likely to have particularly reduced influenza transmission through early February 2020.”
The report, which conducted a telephone survey to assess the behavior of the coronavirus outbreak, found that by mid-March, about 99% of citizens wore a mask as they left their homes.
In Melbourne, Australia, where there is a primary viral epidemic, masks have become mandatory last week. In Hong Kong, masking at public facilities will be mandatory from Wednesday.
Trends may simply alleviate the considerations raised by Israeli fitness officials who said the medical formula can be overcome during the winter, as flu patients join those with coronavirus.
Ministry of Health figures published on Monday show that 4 Israeli primary hospitals have reached or approached capacity.