August 10, 2020

Using a Real-World Network to Model Localized COVID-19 Control Strategies

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Modeling and Prediction

• Firth et al. simulated COVID-19 transmission control strategies in a real-world social network (based on GPS data gathered by tracking 468 individuals in a UK town). Isolation of individuals when they became symptomatic resulted in 66% of the population infected, and primary contact tracing resulted in 48% infected. Secondary contact tracing resulted in 16% of the population infected after 70 days. 
• Under both primary and secondary contact tracing scenarios, the proportion of the population quarantined was very high, with a median of 43% of the population quarantined during the outbreak peak with secondary contact tracing. 

Firth et al. (Aug 7, 2020). Using a Real-World Network to Model Localized COVID-19 Control Strategies. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1036-8