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May 21, 2020
Simulated Sunlight Rapidly Inactivates SARS-CoV-2 on Surfaces
Simulated sunlight rapidly inactivates SARS-CoV-2 that is suspended in simulated saliva, culture media, and dried on stainless steel surfaces. 99% of infectious virus was inactivated after 6.8 minutes in saliva and 14.3 minutes in culture media. These findings indicate exposure risk may vary between indoor and outdoor environments. Ratnesar-Shumate et al. (May 20, 2020). Simulated Sunlight Rapidly Inactivates SARS-CoV-2 on Surfaces. The Journal of…
Institutional, Not Home-Based, Isolation Could Contain the COVID-19 Outbreak.
Using an agent-based model, Dickens et al. found that institution-based isolation (in which confirmed cases are isolated at quarantine facilities) was more effective at reducing household and community transmission than home-based isolation. Dickens et al. (Apr 29, 2020). Institutional, Not Home-Based, Isolation Could Contain the COVID-19 Outbreak. Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31016-3
Differential Effects of Intervention Timing on COVID-19 Spread in the United States
[pre-print, not peer reviewed] Pei et al. estimated that if non-pharmaceutical interventions in the U.S. had been implemented 1-2 weeks earlier, then 62% (95% CI: 55%-68%) of reported COVID-19 infections and 55% (95% CI: 46%-62%) of reported deaths would have been averted. The authors also estimated that longer delays in re-implementing social distancing following a relaxation of…
May 20, 2020
Measuring the Outreach Efforts of Public Health Authorities and the Public Response on Facebook during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Early 2020: A Cross-Country Comparison
Raamkumar et al. compared the outreach efforts of public health authorities (PHAs) in Singapore, United States, and England using Facebook posts. The authors classified posts into themes and compared mean posts per day, mean comments per day, and the positive to negative sentiment ratio between countries. Overall, the Singapore Ministry of Health covered more diverse themes, posted more frequently, and received comments with a more favorable sentiment than other PHAs. …
Estimation of COVID-19 Transmission Rates in California and the U.S. with Reporting Delays
Worden et al. used a model to determine that transmission in many areas in the US may not yet be controlled despite stable or declining case counts. Based on data available on May 9, 2020, the only states to have achieved a threshold at which the epidemic fades out (Rt < 1) are New York, Michigan, New Jersey, and Louisiana. The…
Susceptible Supply Limits the Role of Climate in the Early SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic
Baker et al. applied a climate-dependent epidemic model with parameters drawn from endemic coronaviruses and influenza to understand the potential climate dependence of SARS-CoV-2. The global model provided detailed results for nine cities. Researchers found that the extent to which the population builds immunity remains the fundamental driver of peak incidence during the pandemic phase, while climate plays a modest role in affecting the size of the pandemic outbreak and efficacy of control measures. Baker et…
How Are Adversities during COVID-19 Affecting Mental Health Differential Associations for Worries and Experiences and Implications for Policy
Wright et al. found that in a cohort of 35,784 adults in the UK, the number of self-reported episodes for worrying about adversities related to COVID-19, as well as the number actual experienced events of adversity were related to both anxiety and depression. Worrying about adversities was more strongly associated with anxiety than with depression. There was some evidence…
Epidemiology, Clinical Course, and Outcomes of Critically Ill Adults with COVID-19 in New York City: A Prospective Cohort Study
An observational cohort study identified 1,150 adults with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 admitted to two New York hospitals and followed 257 (22%) critically ill participants for the primary outcome of in-hospital mortality. Results support previous studies showing that older age and cardiopulmonary comorbidities were associated with increased in-hospital mortality while also adding biomarkers for inflammation and thrombosis as independent risk factors. Cummings et…
Longitudinal Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG Seropositivity to Detect COVID-19
Suhandynata et al. evaluated the clinical performance of the Diazyme SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG serology assay using a cohort of 54 PCR positive patients and an additional 235 negative samples. The assay had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 98.7% at 15 or more days after SARS-CoV-2 confirmation. The study also evaluated time to seroconversion in 14 patients who were seronegative on admission. The…
Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Rapid Diagnosis of Patients with COVID-19
Mei et al. developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that integrates chest CT findings with clinical history to provide rapid diagnosis of COVID-19. The algorithm achieved high discriminative performance (AUC=0.92) with equal sensitivity compared to a senior thoracic radiologist (84.3% vs 74.6%) on a test set of 279 patients. The algorithm also correctly identified 17 of 25 patients who presented with normal CT…
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