Most Adults Will Continue Public Health Safety Measures After Pandemic

FRIDAY, Feb. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Most Americans plan to continue many of the pandemic precautions in the name of public health, even when the COVID-19 pandemic is over, according to the results of a survey released by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

After surveying 2,065 U.S. adults between Jan. 12 and 14, the researchers found that nearly three-quarters of Americans (72 percent) plan to continue to wear masks in public, while four out of five (80 percent) will still avoid crowds. Just over three-quarters (76 percent) report they will avoid shaking hands and embracing others, while the vast majority (90 percent) plan to keep up frequent handwashing and sanitizer use after COVID-19.

“Flu cases and hospitalizations are way down compared to recent years. A lot of that is likely because precautions like masking, physical distancing, and hand hygiene are working to prevent the flu,” Iahn Gonsenhauser, chief quality and patient safety officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said in a statement. “I think a lot of people realize what we’ve learned from COVID-19 can be applied more generally to keep our population healthy.”

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