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April 15, 2020
Effect of various decontamination procedures on disposable N95 mask integrity and SARS-CoV-2 infectivity
Smith et al tested the feasibility of vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP), UV light, and ethanol decontamination strategies on N95 mask integrity and the ability to remove the infectious potential of SARS-CoV-2. VHP treated masks showed no significant change in function after two treatments, while UV light was not as effective and ethanol damaged the integrity…
Time-Varying COVID-19 Reproduction Number in the United States
Gunzler and Sehgal calculated the current reproduction number (R0) for COVID-19 for each state in the United States. For the entire United States, they report that the time-varying R0 declined from 4.02 to 1.51 between March 17 and April 1, 2020, suggesting that social isolation measures may be having a beneficial effect. Gunzler and Sehgal…
Household secondary attack rate of COVID-19 and associated determinants
Jing et al. used a comprehensive contact-tracing dataset to estimate population-level effective RO and individual-level SAR in the household setting and to assess age effects on transmissibility and infectivity of COVID-19 cases during the incubation period. They reported household SAR to be 13.8% between relatives within households and 19.3% in same residential address as the…
COVID-19 outbreak at a large homeless shelter in Boston: Implications for universal testing
Baggett et al describe rapid transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in homeless shelter in Boston, where 36% (147/408) inhabitants tested positive. Positive individuals were more likely to be male, but did not differ significantly from COVID-negative individuals with respect to other demographic and clinical characteristics. Signs like cough, shortness of breath, and fever were all uncommon among…
COVID-19: A model correlating BCG vaccination to protection from mortality implicates trained immunity
Green et al determine that BCG vaccination is correlated with protection from death from COVID-19. This correlation to new and existing studies and data suggest causal protective mechanisms that have been previously and rigorously demonstrated to be mediated by BCG vaccination. These mechanisms converge on “trained immunity,” suggesting that this may be an important mechanism…
April 14, 2020
A Scalable Method of Applying Heat and Humidity for Decontamination of N95 Respirators During the COVID-19 Crisis
The authors present their validation of a method of heating N95 respirators with moisture, finding no degradation of mask filtration efficiency. The heating method is scalable to over a thousand per day using a single industrial convection oven, making this potentially practical for local application. Anderegg et al. (April 9, 2020). A Scalable Method of…
UV light dosage distribution over irregular respirator surfaces. Methods and implications for safety
Baluja et al propose a method to decontaminate several facepiece filtering respirators at once using ultraviolet-C radiation in closed box settings. Baluja et al. (April 11, 2020). UV light dosage distribution over irregular respirator surfaces. Methods and implications for safety. Pre-print downloaded Apr 14 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.07.20057224
The Epidemiological Implications of Incarceration Dynamics in Jails for Community, Corrections Officer, and Incarcerated Population Risks from COVID-19
The authors present a mathematical model exploring the epidemiological consequences of maintaining standard jail operations during the COVID-19 pandemic in contrast with proposed interventions. They conclude that operating in a business as usual way will result in significant and rapid loss of life, both among inmates and correction officers, and recommend large scale reductions in…
Spatial modeling cannot currently differentiate SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and human distributions on the basis of climate in the United States
Harbert et al used species distribution modeling with US county-level data to evaluate the impact of climate on transmission. While finding slightly more cases in cooler areas, the authors conclude that climate may not play a central role in US viral distribution. Harbert et al. (April 10, 2020). Spatial modeling cannot currently differentiate SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus…
Outbreak dynamics of COVID-19 in China and the United States
A global network model was integrated with a local epidemic SEIR model to quantify outbreak dynamics in China and the US. Adopting the latent and infectious periods observed in China (2.5 days and 17.8 days, respectively), the authors predict a nationwide peak of outbreak in the US on May 10, 2020 with 3 million infections….
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