Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

March 20, 2020

A framework for identifying regional outbreak and spread of COVID-19 from one-minute population-wide surveys

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  • Rossman et al developed a short survey based on symptoms associated with COVID-19, with the primary purpose of locating potential geographic areas in which SARS-CoV-2 is spreading throughout Israel. Preliminary results reveal different rates of symptoms in different cities despite close geographical proximity.
  • This survey may have several potential applications – (1) help predict future spreading zones a few days before an outbreak occurs, (2) evaluate the effectiveness of public health prevention strategies (i.e. social distancing) and, (3) aid in understanding the clinical course of COVID-19 by tracking the dynamics of symptoms over time. 

Rossman et al. (March 19, 2020). A framework for identifying regional outbreak and spread of COVID-19 from one-minute population-wide surveys. Pre-print downloaded Mar 20 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.19.20038844