January 19, 2021

Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Mitigation Strategies on a University Campus Using an Agent-Based Network Model

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Modeling and Prediction

Keywords (Tags): colleges, schools

A SARS-CoV-2 transmission model parametrized to the University of California San Diego showed that reducing on-campus housing occupancy to single residents and implementing a hybrid instruction format (only 12% of sections in-person) with a class size cap of 50 could substantially reduce the basic reproduction number, R₀. However, the addition of masking and physical distancing were required to reduce R₀ to at or below 1. While the model also showed that increasing asymptomatic testing frequency from monthly to twice weekly had minimal impact on the average outbreak size, it could substantially reduce the maximum outbreak size and cumulative number of cases.

Goyal et al. (Jan 19, 2021). Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Mitigation Strategies on a University Campus Using an Agent-Based Network Model. Clinical Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab037