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has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Optimal Control Strategies for Assessing the Impact of Medical Masks on COVID-19 Dynamics: Global Perspectives and Societal Well-Being

  AUTHORS: Amira Rachah

  KEYWORDS: Optimal Control, Medical Mask, COVID-19, Well-Being, Social Factors

  JOURNAL NAME: Open Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.12 No.3, March 25, 2024

  ABSTRACT: The pandemic crisis caused by the spread of the COVID-19 variants elicited how urgent is to establish a robust mathematical model for effective policy decision-making. To investigate the effectiveness of control measures like medical masks on the transmission dynamics of COVID-19, more sophisticated mathematical models can be employed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of control measures, e.g., medical masks use on the transmission dynamics of COVID-19. In this work, we have established a model that includes medical masks use in order to study its ability to flatten the epidemic curve, taking into account demographic rates (birth and death rates). The model was used to formulate an optimal control study with the objective function of minimizing the number of infected individuals and relative cost of the interventions associated with medical masks use. The aim is to reduce the transmission of the virus in order to keep the healthcare services below full capacity and to reduce the total cumulative infected. The model was used to assess the importance of mask usage in society by evaluating its impact on the spread of the virus in Norway, the United States and India. Medical mask use during COVID-19 significantly reshaped social norms while presenting diverse effects on individual well-being, blending cultural, psychological, and health-related impacts.