Today’s Solutions: September 17, 2026

While a vaccine may be crucial to fully stopping the coronavirus, a new study finds that three simple steps may drastically reduce the spread of Covid-19: handwashing, physical distancing, and wearing a mask.

However, for these steps to actually stop the virus, at least 50 percent of the population needs to adopt these steps.

The new study, which was published in the journal PLOS Medicine, developed a computational model of the spread of COVID-19 based on known information about the epidemiology of the disease. The model was used to study the predicted effect of prevention measures.

“Combining self-imposed prevention measures — particularly if adopted quickly and by a large portion of the population — with government-imposed social distancing, has the potential to both delay and shrink the peak of the epidemic,” the study authors wrote.

At the Optimist Daily, we believe this research shows just how crucial each and every one of us are in stopping the virus. The faster we adopt these three simple steps, the faster we crush the virus.

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