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Tag: non-pharm interventions
January 15, 2021
Is Lockdown Effective in Limiting SARS-CoV-2 Epidemic Progression?—A Cross-Country Comparative Evaluation Using Epidemiokinetic Tools
A comparison of lockdown measures and counts of COVID-19 cases across 9 countries using an SIR-based epidemic model found that lockdown policies were effective in reducing SARS CoV-2 infections. The models discerned two groups of countries. The first group included Sweden and the United States, which had either no lockdowns or abruptly ended lockdown policies…
January 14, 2021
Comprehensive Characterization of Protective Face Coverings Made from Household Fabrics
A comparison of 21 different face coverings made from household materials found that 1000-thread-count cotton had a filtration efficiency of at least 40% for sub-micron aerosols while offering comparable breathing resistance to N95 respirators, providing some level of protection for the wearer. In contrast, most single-layered materials had filtration efficiencies of <20%, offering little protection….
January 12, 2021
Attendance at London Workplaces after Symptom Onset: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Staff Members with Confirmed COVID-19
32% of workers diagnosed with COVID-19 went to the workplace even after the onset of symptoms, based on a cohort of 130 symptomatic COVID-19 cases in London. Compared to females, males were 66% less likely to attend the workplace after onset of COVID-19 symptoms. Age and occupation were not associated with workplace attendance after symptom…
Bidirectional Contact Tracing Could Dramatically Improve COVID-19 Control
A modeling study found that bi-directional contact tracing could double the reduction in effective reproductive number (Reff) compared to conventional forward-tracing alone. Bi-directional contact tracing identifies potential infectors of known cases, which could lead to identification of additional cases arising from the potential infectors. The authors also suggest expanding the tracing window from 2-6 days…
Mitigation Policies and COVID-19–Associated Mortality — 37 European Countries, January 23–June 30, 2020
European countries that implemented stricter mitigation policies during the beginning of the pandemic tended to report fewer COVID-19 deaths through the end of June 2020, according to data from 37 European countries. Using the Oxford Stringency Index (OSI) to measure the stringency of policies (higher number corresponds to stricter policies), a 1-unit increase in the…
January 11, 2021
Optimal COVID-19 Quarantine and Testing Strategies
A mathematical model developed to quantify the probability of post-quarantine transmission in the context of travel found that SARS-CoV-2 testing on exit could reduce the duration of a 14-day quarantine by 50%, while testing on entry shortened quarantine by at most one day. The authors tested this approach in a real-world scenario involving offshore oil…
Time from Start of Quarantine to SARS-CoV-2 Positive Test Among Quarantined College and University Athletes — 17 States, June–October 2020
An analysis conducted by CDC with the National Collegiate Athletic Association found that among collegiate athletes exposed to COVID-19 (n=1,830), one quarter had positive test results during quarantine with a mean of 3.8 days from quarantine start until the positive test result. Among athletes who had not received a positive test result by day 5,…
January 8, 2021
Effectiveness of Physical Distancing: Staying 6 Feet Over to Put Respiratory Viruses 6 Feet Under
Results from an analysis of 13,324 nasopharyngeal swabs collected at a single hospital in Arizona between January 1, 2017, and July 31, 2020, found a significant reduction in the detection of respiratory viruses other than SARS-CoV-2, coinciding with the implementation of distancing and masking policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The average monthly positivity rate for…
SARS-CoV-2 Transmission From People Without COVID-19 Symptoms
A mathematical model estimates that 59% of all transmission of SARS-CoV-2 comes from asymptomatic cases, suggesting that strategies based on identifying and isolating symptomatic people will not control the pandemic. The model estimates that 35% of SARS-CoV-2 transmission comes from presymptomatic individuals and 24% from individuals who never become symptomatic. Johansson et al. (Jan 7,…
January 7, 2021
Continued Need for Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions after COVID-19 Vaccination in Long-Term-Care Facilities
[Pre-print, not peer reviewed] In a model parametrized to long-term care facility populations, high vaccination coverage among staff combined with strong adherence to nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) produced the least morbidity and mortality, even among unvaccinated residents. However, in scenarios where adherence to NPIs was waning or low, vaccination among residents had a stronger impact on…
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