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While drug treatments and vaccines are necessary protections against the disease, the best and often only option for individuals and communities at this stage is to halt COVID-19’s spread through non-pharmaceutical measures. HKUMed has been researching such measures for years in relation to controlling other diseases and we continued to provide evidence on the effectiveness of this approach. » Face masks were confirmed to help limit the transmission of pre-COVID-19 respiratory viruses from symptomatic people. The finding, based on research underway before the pandemic started, was published in April and attracted significant coverage from social media and mainstream news outlets around the world. 01 Controlling through Non-Drug Measures Testing, contact tracing and population behavioural changes — measures which have less disruptive social and economic impacts than total lockdown — were shown to meaningfully control COVID-19. 16