Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have created a new survey in hopes of understanding the prevalence of COVID-19 symptoms and their association with testing and social distancing behavior, according to a press release from the university.

COVID-19 is the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. The survey aims to help public health specialists and policy makers recommend effective COVID-19 measures over the coming days.

Participants must be at least 18 years old and currently live in the United Sates. The five-minute survey begins with questions regarding age, gender, location and health insurance status.

Next, individuals must answer questions about their health and the health of other members of their household, including whether or not they’ve experienced certain symptoms in the past two weeks, been tested for COVID-19 or received a flu vaccine.

In addition, respondents must answer queries about paid work and the number of days they’ve left home in the past seven days.

“Models of the spread and impact of COVID-19 depend on our understanding of how many people have symptoms and the success of social distancing messages in changing behavior,” said David Canning, PhD, deputy director of the Program on the Global Demography of Aging at Harvard University.

Channing says the important data gathered by this simple anonymous survey could help improve policy making.

For related coverage, read “Yes, You Should Wear a Face Mask to Cut Coronavirus Transmission.” And click here for more coronavirus news.