Delivering a rapid digital response to the COVID-19 pandemic

2022 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-75
Author(s):  
Gwanhoo Lee ◽  
Jaeho Kim
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Contact Tracing

Lessons learned from South Korea's contact-tracing system.

scholarly journals Information system for epidemic control: a computational solution addressing successful experiences and main challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilherme Conceição Rocha ◽  
Henrique Mohallem Paiva ◽  
Davi Gonçalves Sanches ◽  
Daniel Fiks ◽  
Rafael Martins Castro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Automatic Identification ◽  
Technical Solution ◽  
Epidemic Control ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Contamination Risk ◽  
Health Authorities

PurposeThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has caused a major impact on worldwide public health and economics. The lessons learned from the successful attempts to contain the pandemic escalation revealed that the wise usage of contact tracing and information systems can widely help the containment work of any contagious disease. In this context, this paper investigates other researches on this domain, as well as the main issues related to the practical implementation of such systems and specifies a technical solution.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed solution is based on the automatic identification of relevant contacts between infected or suspected people with susceptible people; inference of contamination risk based on symptoms history, user navigation records and contact information; real-time georeferenced information of population density of infected or suspect people; and automatic individual social distancing recommendation calculated through the individual contamination risk and the worsening of clinical condition risk.FindingsThe solution was specified, prototyped and evaluated by potential users and health authorities. The proposed solution has the potential of becoming a reference on how to coordinate the efforts of health authorities and the population on epidemic control.Originality/valueThis paper proposed an original information system for epidemic control which was applied for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and could be easily extended to other epidemics.

scholarly journals Ebola virus disease contact tracing activities, lessons learned and best practices during the Duport Road outbreak in Monrovia, Liberia, November 2015

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e0005597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin M. Wolfe ◽  
Esther L. Hamblion ◽  
Jacqueline Schulte ◽  
Parker Williams ◽  
Augustine Koryon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
Contact Tracing

scholarly journals The first community outbreak of COVID-19 in Viet Nam: description and lessons learned

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-50
Author(s):  
Duong Nhu Tran ◽  
Quynh Mai Thi Le ◽  
Hien Tran Nguyen ◽  
Nghia Duy Ngu ◽  
Khoa Trong Nguyen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Viet Nam ◽  
Prevention And Control Measures ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Nonpharmaceutical Interventions ◽  
And Control

Objective: At the time of this study, the prevention of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) relied solely on nonpharmaceutical interventions. Implementation of these interventions is not always optimal and, consequently, several cases were imported into non-epidemic areas and led to large community outbreaks. This report describes the characteristics of the first community outbreak of COVID-19 in Viet Nam and the intensive preventive measures taken in response. Methods: Cases were detected and tested for SARS-CoV-2 by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Contact tracing and active surveillance were conducted to identify suspected cases and individuals at risk. Clinical symptoms were recorded using a standardized questionnaire. Results: In Vinh Phuc province from 20 January to 3 March 2020, there were 11 confirmed cases among 158 suspected cases and 663 contacts. Nine of the confirmed cases (81.8%) had mild symptoms at the time of detection and two (18.2%) were asymptomatic; none required admission to an intensive care unit. Five prevention and control measures were implemented, including quarantining a community of 10 645 individuals for 20 days. The outbreak was successfully contained as of 13 February 2020. Discussion: In the absence of specific interventions, the intensive use of combined preventive measures can mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The lessons learned may be useful for other communities.

scholarly journals Contact Tracing and the COVID-19 Response in Africa: Best Practices, Key Challenges, and Lessons Learned from Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean B. Nachega ◽  
Rhoda Atteh ◽  
Chikwe Ihekweazu ◽  
Nadia A. Sam-Agudu ◽  
Prisca Adejumo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Community Education ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
African Countries

Most African countries have recorded relatively lower COVID-19 burdens than Western countries. This has been attributed to early and strong political commitment and robust implementation of public health measures, such as nationwide lockdowns, travel restrictions, face mask wearing, testing, contact tracing, and isolation, along with community education and engagement. Other factors include the younger population age strata and hypothesized but yet-to-be confirmed partially protective cross-immunity from parasitic diseases and/or other circulating coronaviruses. However, the true burden may also be underestimated due to operational and resource issues for COVID-19 case identification and reporting. In this perspective article, we discuss selected best practices and challenges with COVID-19 contact tracing in Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda. Best practices from these country case studies include sustained, multi-platform public communications; leveraging of technology innovations; applied public health expertise; deployment of community health workers; and robust community engagement. Challenges include an overwhelming workload of contact tracing and case detection for healthcare workers, misinformation and stigma, and poorly sustained adherence to isolation and quarantine. Important lessons learned include the need for decentralization of contact tracing to the lowest geographic levels of surveillance, rigorous use of data and technology to improve decision-making, and sustainment of both community sensitization and political commitment. Further research is needed to understand the role and importance of contact tracing in controlling community transmission dynamics in African countries, including among children. Also, implementation science will be critically needed to evaluate innovative, accessible, and cost-effective digital solutions to accommodate the contact tracing workload.

COVID-19 Testing: Frequency Wins over Sensitivity in Control of Disease Transmission

Nano LIFE ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 2030002
Author(s):  
Francois Berthiaume
Keyword(s):  
Infection Control ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Severe Illness ◽  
Sensitivity Threshold ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Emerging Viruses ◽  
Sensitivity Testing ◽  
Testing Frequency

Emerging pathogens have no known therapies or vaccines and therefore can only be controlled via traditional methods of contact tracing, quarantine and isolation that require rapid and widespread testing. The most recent outbreak from an emerging pathogen is due to the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19 disease, which is associated with no symptoms or mild symptoms in 80–90% of the infected individuals, while in the remainder of the patients it exhibits severe illness that can be lethal or persist for several weeks to months after infection. The first tests to diagnose infection by SARS-CoV-2 were developed soon after the genome of the virus became known, and use probes to measure viral RNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). These tests are highly sensitive and specific but can require several days to return results, which makes contact tracing and more generally efforts to control the spread of the infection very difficult. Furthermore, the sensitivity threshold is orders of magnitude below the viral load necessary for transmission; therefore, individuals recovering from the infection may still be have a positive test and be required to isolate unnecessarily while they are no longer infectious. Antigen tests were subsequently developed that use antibodies mostly targeted to the nucleocapsid protein of the virus. These tests are about 100 times less sensitive than RT-PCR, yes they detect viral loads that are about 1/10 that needed for transmission. Furthermore, such tests are potentially much cheaper than RT-PCR and yield results in 15 min or less. Antibody, also known as serological testing, is available and can provide useful information to understand the extent to which a population has been exposed to the virus; however, it is not a good indicator of current infection and not useful for infection control. Viral transmission models that incorporate testing and contact tracing show that infection control is much more readily achieved by increasing testing frequency than by using higher sensitivity testing. For example, compared to no testing at all, testing once every other week has a marginal benefit, while testing weekly can decrease the number of infections to 20–40%, and testing twice weekly or more can bring about a 95%[Formula: see text] reduction in infections. These lessons learned from dealing from the COVID-19 pandemic should guide future planning against potential emerging viruses.

scholarly journals COVID-19: public health management of the first two confirmed cases identified in the UK

2020 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Holden ◽  
A. Quinney ◽  
S. Padfield ◽  
W. Morton ◽  
S. Coles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Fast Moving ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
The Public ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Public Health Management

Abstract We report key learning from the public health management of the first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 identified in the UK. The first case imported, and the second associated with probable person-to-person transmission within the UK. Contact tracing was complex and fast-moving. Potential exposures for both cases were reviewed, and 52 contacts were identified. No further confirmed COVID-19 cases have been linked epidemiologically to these two cases. As steps are made to enhance contact tracing across the UK, the lessons learned from earlier contact tracing during the country's containment phase are particularly important and timely.

scholarly journals Defusing COVID-19: Lessons Learned from a Century of Pandemics

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 182
Author(s):  
Graciela Mujica ◽  
Zane Sternberg ◽  
Jamie Solis ◽  
Taylor Wand ◽  
Peter Carrasco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Groups ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Influenza Pandemics ◽  
Mass Gatherings ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Health Response

Amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic of 2020, identifying and applying lessons learned from previous influenza and coronavirus pandemics may offer important insight into its interruption. Herein, we conducted a review of the literature of the influenza pandemics of the 20th century; and of the coronavirus and influenza pandemics of the 21st century. Influenza and coronavirus pandemics are zoonoses that spread rapidly in consistent seasonal patterns during an initial wave of infection and subsequent waves of spread. For all of their differences in the state of available medical technologies, global population changes, and social and geopolitical factors surrounding each pandemic, there are remarkable similarities among them. While vaccination of high-risk groups is advocated as an instrumental mode of interrupting pandemics, non-pharmacological interventions including avoidance of mass gatherings, school closings, case isolation, contact tracing, and the implementation of infection prevention strategies in healthcare settings represent the cornerstone to halting transmission. In conjunction with lessons learned from previous pandemics, the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes the basis for delineating best practices to confront future pandemics.

Vietnam’s Containment of COVID-19: Why the Coronavirus Mortality has Been So Low

2021 ◽  
pp. 002073142199296
Author(s):  
Claudio Schuftan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Late Stage ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Health Messaging

The successful experience of Vietnam, with a population of almost 100 million, in handling the COVID pandemic from March to November 2020 is presented as a case study. It is posited that lessons learned apply to every other country—even at this late stage of the epidemic. Detailed aspects of detection, containment, testing, contact tracing, quarantining, targeted lockdowns, public health messaging, and travel and mobility restriction policies are discussed.

scholarly journals COVID-19 incidence trends between April and June 2020: A global analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Amanor-Boadu ◽  
Kara Ross
Keyword(s):  
Global Analysis ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
National Income ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
First Year ◽  
Average Temperature ◽  
Incidence Trends ◽  
Preventative Measures ◽  
The World

AbstractThe study sought to investigate how the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 have evolved in the most recent three months across the world, and what insights the trends may provide about the second half of the pandemic’s first year using a situation analysis approach based on national income, temperature, trade intensity with China, and location defined by longitude and latitude. The study confirmed the negative relationship between COVID-19 cases and temperature. It contributed to the resolution of the conflicting results about latitude after organizing it into a categorical variable instead of its continuous form. This approach works because the average temperature in the 15°S to 15°N region remains similar to the average temperatures in both the Above 15°N region and the Below 15°S region during their summer months because the 15°S to 15°N region does not experience the marked seasonal changes in temperature. Given the negative association between temperature and case numbers, this suggests that countries in the 15°S to 15°N region might continue exhibiting the low numbers they have thus far exhibited through the second half of this year, even as numbers climb in the Below 15°S region. To succeed, their policymakers must control importation of the disease by implementing effective testing, quarantining, and contact tracing for people entering their borders. Policymakers in countries Below 15°S region may manage their inherent risks by applying lessons learned from countries in the Above 15°N region during these past months. Such preventative measures may allow the world to avoid the drastic lockdown policies and facilitate rapid global economic recovery from this pandemic.

scholarly journals Contact Tracing Apps: lessons learned: privacy, autonomy, and the need for detailed and thoughtful implementation (Preprint)

10.2196/27449 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Hogan ◽  
Briana Macedo ◽  
Venkata Macha ◽  
Arko Barman ◽  
Xiaoqian Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Contact Tracing
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