---

Dear Editor;
Recently I heard mention of the "Swiss Cheese Model" and its application to the coronavirus.
Swiss cheese? I wanted to know more.
The "Swiss Cheese Model" uses slices of cheese to visualize how interventions work together. Each intervention - physical distancing, ventilation, masks, hand hygiene, fast testing, contact tracing, and surface cleaning - is depicted as an imperfect barrier to virus transmission by the holes in the cheese. (This Covid19 version was adapted by Ian M. Mackay, a virologist in Australia.)
When multiple interventions are combined like a stack of Swiss cheese slices, the odds are low that holes in every slice would line up and allow the virus to slip through the entire stack.
Many public health experts from around the world hailed it as an effective way to visualize how an individual can help combat the spread of COVID-19.
The model itself is nothing new. It was created in 1990 by James Reason, a professor at Manchester University.
The above was reported 10/19/2020 by Global News

Eileen Z. Fitzsimons
Dodgeville, WI