<p>COVID-19 is causing major health and economic challenges for low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa.The Kenya Life Panel Survey (KLPS) is uniquely situated to address numerous key questions about the effects of the pandemic.The KLPS is a 20-year longitudinal survey on health, educational, nutritional, demographic, social, and labor market outcomes among a sample of thousands of Kenyans who were participants in one or more randomized health, skills training, and financial capital interventions during childhood and adolescence, and collects intergenerational data on their children.</p>

<p>Social distancing is one of the most important health behaviors limiting the spread of COVID‐19, but people may practice it insufficiently for multiple reasons: they may not believe or realize that community norms have shifted towards support for social distancing, and they may not realize its public health benefits.This project is supporting Mozambique’s effort to promote social distancing, in collaboration with the government’s health research center for the central region.In a representative sample of 3,000 households across three provinces, many of whom were displaced by Cyclone Idai, researchers are evaluating two different messaging approaches to promote social distancing.</p>

<p>In the US, the CDC has recently recommended cloth face coverings as a supplement to social distancing, especially in areas with significant community-based transmission of COVID-19.Internationally, the World Health Organization and many other countries are yet to recommend universal mask adoption.Evidence on the effectiveness of masks remains scarce but as developing countries consider opening their economies, masks may prove to be crucial policy instruments that reduce the transmission of virus in the absence of social distancing.</p>