Skip to Content
800-533-8762
  • Careers
  • Newsroom
  • Health Care Professionals
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
UPMC
  • Find a Doctor
  • Services
    • Frequently Searched Services
    • Frequently Searched Services
      Allergy & Immunology Behavioral & Mental Health Cancer Ear, Nose & Throat Endocrinology Gastroenterology Heart & Vascular Imaging Neurosciences Orthopaedics
      Physical Rehabilitation Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Primary Care Senior Services Sports Medicine Telemedicine Transplant Surgery Walk-In Care Weight Management Women’s Health
      See all Services
    • Services by Region
    • Find a UPMC health care facility close to you quickly by browsing by region.
      UPMC in Western Pa. Western Pa. and New York
      UPMC in Central Pa. Central Pa.
      UPMC in North Central Pa. North Central Pa.
      UPMC in Western Md. Maryland & West Virginia
    • See All Services
  • Locations
    • Locations by Type
    • Locations by Type
      UPMC hospitals
      Hospitals
      Physical Therapy
      Physical Therapy
      Urgent care
      Walk-In Care
      UPMC Outpatient Centers
      Outpatient Centers
      UPMC Imaging Services
      Imaging
      Community Health Centers
      Community Health Centers
      See All Locations
    • Locations by Region
    • Locations by Region
      UPMC in Southwest Pa. Southwest Pa.
      UPMC in North Central Pa. North Central Pa.
      UPMC in Northwest Pa and Ny. Northwest Pa. & Western N.Y.
      UPMC in West Central Pa. West Central Pa.
      UPMC in Central Pa. Central Pa.
      UPMC in Western Md. Maryland & West Virginia
    • See All Locations
  • Patients & Visitors
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
      Patients and Visitors Resources Pay a Bill Classes & Events Medical Records Health Library Patient Information
      Patient Portals Privacy Information Shared Decision Making Traveling Patients Visitor Information
      Man uses mobile phone
      Pay a Bill
      Nurse reviews medical chart
      Request Medical Records
  • Patient Portals
  • Find Covid-19 updates
  • Schedule an appointment
  • Request medical records
  • Pay a bill
  • Learn about financial assistance
  • Find classes & events
  • Send a patient an eCard
  • Make a donation
  • Volunteer
  • Read HealthBeat blog
  • Explore UPMC Careers
Skip to Content
UPMC
  • Patient Portals
  • For Patients & Visitors
    • Find a Doctor
    • Locations
    • Patient & Visitor Resources
    • Pay a Bill
    • Services
    • More
      • Medical Records
      • Financial Assistance
      • Classes & Events
      • HealthBeat Blog
      • Health Library
  • About UPMC
    • Why UPMC
    • Facts & Stats
    • Supply Chain Management
    • Community Commitment
    • More
      • Financials
      • Support UPMC
      • UPMC Apps
      • UPMC Enterprises
      • UPMC International
  • For Health Care Professionals
    • Physician Information
    • Resources
    • Education & Training
    • Departments
    • Credentialing
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Newsroom
  • UPMC >
  • Media Relations >
  • News Releases >
  • 080321 Lakdawala Maps
Media Relations
News Releases
Central Pa. News
North Central Pa. News
Contact Us
Experts
Community-Focused News
Media Kits
Media RSS
Media Relations
News Releases
Central Pa. News
North Central Pa. News
Contact Us
Experts
Community-Focused News
Media Kits
Media RSS

Scientists Urge States to Work Together When Implementing COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies

For Journalists

Allison Hydzik
Director, Science and Research
412-647-9975
hydzikam@upmc.edu

Want to Make an Appointment or Need Patient Information?
Contact UPMC at

1-800-533-8762.

Go to Find a Doctor to search for a UPMC doctor.

2021 PITT HS CMU

8/3/2021

PITTSBURGH – Non-pharmaceutical interventions can be effective at limiting the spread of COVID-19, but individual states need to consider their geographical neighbors for mitigation strategies to be successful, argues a new analysis by University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) scientists.

 

The study also found that these interventions need at least three to four weeks to have a measurable effect in dampening COVID-19 spread.

 

Given the urgent need for high-quality data informing public health preparedness for a possible new wave of coronavirus infections, Pitt and CMU researchers published their findings in medRxiv, a preprint website, and announced their results today, ahead of peer-reviewed publication.

 

Seema Lakdawala release“Simple measures like masking mandates and restrictions on gatherings can have considerable impact on the number of cases and trajectory of infections,” said senior author Seema Lakdawala, Ph.D., associate professor in the Pitt School of Medicine’s Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics. “As we face an uptick in SARS-CoV-2 infections and suboptimal vaccination rates, it is important to identify strategies that can keep virus-related hospitalizations down.”

 

Rebecca Nugent releaseIn the months after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, states across the nation implemented varying strategies to control the spread of the virus. To compare different interventions and determine which strategies were most effective, Lakdawala and colleagues partnered with Rebecca Nugent, Ph.D., the Stephen E. and Joyce Fienberg Professor and department head, Statistics & Data Science at Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences at CMU, and other scientists in CMU’s Department of Statistics & Data Science. They scoured state government and governors’ websites of all 50 states and the District of Columbia to painstakingly reconstruct the progression of the pandemic over the past year. 

 

The analysis revealed that, not surprisingly, stronger statewide interventions—such as universal masking mandates, gathering restrictions and restaurant and bar closures—implemented between March 2020 and March 2021 were associated with fewer COVID-19 deaths.

 

Of the 23 states that implemented a robust combination of the three measures mentioned above, only about 35% had a mortality rate above the national average. In contrast, of the 28 states with less stringent mitigation strategies, nearly 75% had a mortality rate exceeding the national average.

 

The scientists also discovered that neighboring states with different intervention strategies and coronavirus restrictions had similar COVID-19 case trajectories, cautioning public health officials to pay attention to states in close proximity.

 

“We discovered that some groups of states located geographically close to one another—such as in the Midwest—had similar patterns in case counts, despite the fact that their mitigation strategies were different,” said Nugent. “The clustering that we observed may be correlated with environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, but we think that it’s most likely a reflection of intermingling due to travel.”

 

The researchers also found that nearly a month is needed to observe whether the interventions had a desired effect on reduction of COVID-19 cases.

 

“When tracking the efficacy of public health interventions, it’s important to be patient. There was a three- to four-week lag between when interventions were put in place and when their effects became apparent,” said Nugent. “It may take a while to see the impact of restrictions, so it’s important not to lift them prematurely. We should also consider implementing them earlier when cases begin to go up, before it’s too late to stop the large surges in case numbers.”

 

The researchers have created an interactive dashboard, PhightCOVID.org, that reflects the dynamics of implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions and COVID-19 cases. They urge local governments to consider these insights in guiding the public health response and pandemic preparedness as the Delta variant gains a foothold in areas of the country with low vaccination rates. 

 

“Vaccines remain the single most effective way to control the spread of the virus and lead us out of this pandemic,” said Lakdawala, also a member of Pitt’s Center for Vaccine Research. “But vaccines aren’t the only strategy that we have available. Simple interventions, like universal masking mandates, are extremely effective in curbing the spread of this deadly virus and should be used when other options aren’t available.”

 

Additional authors on this research are Annika Avery, B.S., Elizabeth McGrady, B.S., and Yuqing Liang, all of Pitt; Jiayi Wang, B.S., Xinyu Ma, B.S., Qingkai Pan, B.S., and Zongyuan Yuan, B.S., all of CMU. 
PHOTO INFO: (click images for high-res versions)

 

Left:

CREDIT: UPMC

CAPTION: Seema Lakdawala, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

 

Right:

CREDIT: CMU

CAPTION: Rebecca Nugent, Ph.D., the Stephen E. and Joyce Fienberg Professor and department head, Statistics & Data Science, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University.

UPMC
200 Lothrop Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213

412-647-8762 800-533-8762

Patients And Visitors
  • Find a Doctor
  • Locations
  • Pay a Bill
  • Patient & Visitor Resources
  • Disabilities Resource Center
  • Services
  • Medical Records
  • No Surprises Act
  • Price Transparency
  • Financial Assistance
  • Classes & Events
  • Health Library
Health Care Professionals
  • Physician Information
  • Resources
  • Education & Training
  • Departments
  • Credentialing
Newsroom
  • Newsroom Home
  • Inside Life Changing Medicine Blog
  • News Releases
About
  • Why UPMC
  • Facts & Stats
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Community Commitment
  • Financials
  • Supporting UPMC
  • HealthBeat Blog
  • UPMC Apps
  • UPMC Enterprises
  • UPMC Health Plan
  • UPMC International
  • Nondiscrimination Policy
Life changing is...
Follow UPMC
  • Contact Us
  • Website/Email Terms of Use
  • Medical Advice Disclaimer
  • Privacy Information
  • Active Privacy Alerts
  • Sitemap
© 2025 UPMC I Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences Supplemental content provided by Healthwise, Incorporated. To learn more, visit healthwise.org
Find Care
Providers
Video Visit
Portal Login

Chat Keywords List

  • cancel or exit: Stops your conversation
  • start over: Restarts your current scenario
  • help: Shows what this bot can do
  • terms: Shows terms of use and privacy statement
  • feedback: Give us feedback
Continue
Chat with UPMC
RESTART
MENU
CLOSE