The advantage of self-protecting interventions in mitigating epidemic circulation at the community level

Separable mixing: The general formulation and a particular example focusing on mask efficiency

The aim of this short note is twofold. First, we formulate the general Kermack-McKendrick epidemic model incorporating static heterogeneity and show how it simplifies to a scalar Renewal Equation (RE) when separable mixing is assumed. A key general feature is that all information about the heterogeneity is encoded in one nonlinear real valued function of a real variable. Next, we specialize the model ingredients so that we can study the efficiency of mask wearing as a non-pharmaceutical intervention to reduce the spread of an infectious disease. Our main result affirms that the best way to protect the population as a whole is to protect yourself. This qualitative insight was recently derived in the context of an SIR network model. Here, we extend the conclusion to proportionate mixing models incorporating a general function describing expected infectiousness as a function of time since infection.