• Rutvij A Khanolkar, Aleksandar Trajkovski, Arnav Agarwal, Merril A Pauls, and Eddy S Lang.
• Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, #305, 2011 University Dr NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 4T4, Canada. rutvij.khanolkar@ucalgary.ca.
• Intern Emerg Med. 2022 Apr 1; 17 (3): 639644639-644.

AbstractThe global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has led to significant morbidity and mortality, and unprecedented economic and health system disruption. Non-pharmacologic interventions (NPIs) such as masking and physical distancing have formed the underpinnings of COVID-19 infection control strategies. Concomitantly, numerous jurisdictions have seen a decrease in hospitalizations for non-COVID-19 respiratory illnesses (NCRIs) such as asthma, community-acquired pneumonia, influenza, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease relative to pre-pandemic levels. These associations give rise to a number of testable hypotheses regarding the efficacy of NPIs in reducing the substantial burden of NCRIs. Here, we review emerging perspectives on the role of NPIs in NCRI prevention with the ultimate goal of informing future research and public policy development as we move into what may be the endemic phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Medicina Interna (SIMI).

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