scholarly journals The epidemiological impact of the Canadian COVID Alert App

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuo Sun ◽  
Mairead Shaw ◽  
Erica EM Moodie ◽  
Derek Ruths
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Upper Bound ◽  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Transmission Chain ◽  
Canadian Provinces ◽  
Epidemiological Impact ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Parameter Values

We analyzed the effectiveness of the Canadian COVID Alert app on reducing COVID-19 infections and deaths due to the COVID-19 virus using two separate, but complementary approaches, were taken. First, we undertook a comparative study to assess how the adoption and usage of the COVID Alert app compared to those of similar apps deployed in other regions. Next, we used data from the COVID Alert server and a range of plausible parameter values to estimate the numbers of infections and deaths averted in Canada using a model that combines information on number of notifications, secondary attack rate, expected fraction of transmissions that could be prevented, quarantine effectiveness, and expected size of the full transmission chain in the absence of exposure notification. The comparative analysis revealed that the COVID Alert app had among the lowest adoption levels among apps that reported usage. Our model indicates that use of the COVID Alert app averted between 6,284 and 10,894 infections across the six Canadian provinces where app usage was highest during the March - July 2021 period. This range is equivalent to 1.6%-2.9% of the total recorded infections across Canada in that time. Using province-specific case fatality rates, 57-101 deaths were averted during the same period. The number of cases and deaths averted was greatest in Ontario, whereas the proportion of cases and death averted was greatest in Newfoundland and Labrador. App impact measures were reported so rarely and so inconsistently by other countries that the relative assessment of impact is inconclusive. While the nationwide rates are low, provinces with widespread adoption of the app showed high ratios of averted cases and deaths (upper bound was greater than 60% of averted cases). Our findings suggest that the COVID Alert app, when adopted at sufficient levels, can be an effective public health tool for combatting a pandemic such as COVID-19.

scholarly journals Public health human resources: a comparative analysis of policy documents in two Canadian provinces

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Regan ◽  
Marjorie MacDonald ◽  
Diane E Allan ◽  
Cheryl Martin ◽  
Nancy Peroff-Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Health Human Resources ◽  
Canadian Provinces

scholarly journals Comprehensive public health evaluation of lockdown as a non-pharmaceutical intervention on COVID-19 spread in India: national trends masking state-level variations

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. e041778
Author(s):  
Maxwell Salvatore ◽  
Deepankar Basu ◽  
Debashree Ray ◽  
Mike Kleinsasser ◽  
Soumik Purkayastha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
State Level ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Indian States ◽  
Reproduction Numbers ◽  
National Trends ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Interactive Visualisation

ObjectivesTo evaluate the effect of four-phase national lockdown from March 25 to May 31 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in India and unmask the state-wise variations in terms of multiple public health metrics.DesignCohort study (daily time series of case counts).SettingObservational and population based.ParticipantsConfirmed COVID-19 cases nationally and across 20 states that accounted for >99% of the current cumulative case counts in India until 31 May 2020.ExposureLockdown (non-medical intervention).Main outcomes and measuresWe illustrate the masking of state-level trends and highlight the variations across states by presenting evaluative evidence on some aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak: case fatality rates, doubling times of cases, effective reproduction numbers and the scale of testing.ResultsThe estimated effective reproduction number R for India was 3.36 (95% CI 3.03 to 3.71) on 24 March, whereas the average of estimates from 25 May to 31 May stands at 1.27 (95% CI 1.26 to 1.28). Similarly, the estimated doubling time across India was at 3.56 days on 24 March, and the past 7-day average for the same on 31 May is 14.37 days. The average daily number of tests increased from 1717 (19–25 March) to 113 372 (25–31 May) while the test positivity rate increased from 2.1% to 4.2%, respectively. However, various states exhibit substantial departures from these national patterns.ConclusionsPatterns of change over lockdown periods indicate the lockdown has been partly effective in slowing the spread of the virus nationally. However, there exist large state-level variations and identifying these variations can help in both understanding the dynamics of the pandemic and formulating effective public health interventions. Our framework offers a holistic assessment of the pandemic across Indian states and union territories along with a set of interactive visualisation tools that are daily updated at covind19.org.

scholarly journals Antimicrobial Resistance amongSalmonellaandShigellaIsolates in Five Canadian Provinces (1997 to 2000)

2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 243-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah J Martin ◽  
James Flint ◽  
André Ravel ◽  
Lucie Dutil ◽  
Kathryn Doré ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Nalidixic Acid ◽  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Canadian Data ◽  
Canadian Provinces

OBJECTIVE:To describe rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) amongSalmonellaandShigellaisolates reported in five Canadian provinces, focusing on clinically important antimicrobials.METHODS:The authors retrospectively investigated AMR rates among 6219Salmonellaand 1673Shigellaisolates submitted to provincial public health laboratories in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan from 1997 to 2000; these isolates were estimated to represent 41% ofSalmonellacases and 72% ofShigellacases reported by the study provinces.RESULTS:AmongSalmonellaisolates, 27% (1704 of 6215) were resistant to ampicillin, 2.2% (135 of 6122) to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, 1.5% (14 of 938) to nalidixic acid, 1.2% (one of 84) to lomafloxacin and 0.08% (five of 6163) to ciprofloxacin. AmongShigellaisolates, 70% (1144 of 1643) were resistant to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, 65% (1079 of 1672) to ampicillin, 3.1% (eight of 262) to nalidixic acid, 0.49% (eight of 1636) to ciprofloxacin, 0.14% (one of 700) to ceftriaxone and 0.08% (one of 1292) to ceftazidime.CONCLUSIONS:Higher rates of resistance to clinically important antimicrobials (including ciprofloxacin) were observed among bothSalmonellaandShigellaisolates than has previously been reported. Current Canadian data on rates of AMR for these pathogens are required.

scholarly journals A Comprehensive Public Health Evaluation of Lockdown as a Non-pharmaceutical Intervention on COVID-19 Spread in India: National Trends Masking State Level Variations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepankar Basu ◽  
Maxwell Salvatore ◽  
Debashree Ray ◽  
Mike Kleinsasser ◽  
Soumik Purkayastha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
State Level ◽  
Indian States ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Reproduction Numbers ◽  
Using Data ◽  
National Trends ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Outbreak Case

ABSTRACTIntroductionIndia has been under four phases of a national lockdown from March 25 to May 31 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unmasking the state-wise variation in the effect of the nationwide lockdown on the progression of the pandemic could inform dynamic policy interventions towards containment and mitigation.MethodsUsing data on confirmed COVID-19 cases across 20 states that accounted for more than 99% of the cumulative case counts in India till May 31, 2020, we illustrate the masking of state-level trends and highlight the variations across states by presenting evaluative evidence on some aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak: case-fatality rates, doubling times of cases, effective reproduction numbers, and the scale of testing.ResultsThe estimated effective reproduction number R for India was 3.36 (95% confidence interval (CI): [3.03, 3.71]) on March 24, whereas the average of estimates from May 25 - May 31 stands at 1.27 (95% CI: [1.26, 1.28]). Similarly, the estimated doubling time across India was at 3.56 days on March 24, and the past 7-day average for the same on May 31 is 14.37 days. The average daily number of tests have increased from 1,717 (March 19-25) to 131,772 (May 25-31) with an estimated testing shortfall of 4.58 million tests nationally by May 31. However, various states exhibit substantial departures from these national patterns.ConclusionsPatterns of change over lockdown periods indicate the lockdown has been effective in slowing the spread of the virus nationally. The COVID-19 outbreak in India displays large state-level variations and identifying these variations can help in both understanding the dynamics of the pandemic and formulating effective public health interventions. Our framework offers a holistic assessment of the pandemic across Indian states and union territories along with a set of interactive visualization tools that are daily updated at covind19.org.

COVID-19: A comparative study of SARS, MERS and COVID-19

Coronaviruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandra Mohan ◽  
Vinod Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Central China ◽  
World Health ◽  
Unknown Aetiology ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Past Life ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Disease Spreading ◽  
Health Organization

: World Health Organization (WHO) office in China received the information of pneumonia cases of unknown aetiology from Wuhan, central China on 31st December 2019, subsequently this disease spreading in china and rest of world. Till the March 2020 end, more than 2 lakhs confirmed cases with more than 70000 deaths were reported worldwide, very soon researchers identified it as novel beta Corona virus (virus SARS-CoV-2) and its infection coined as COVID-19. Health ministries of various countries and WHO together fighting to this health emergency, which not only affects public health, but also started affecting various economic sectors as well. The main aim of the current article is to explore the various pandemic situations (SARS, MERS) in past, life cycle of COVID-19, diagnosis procedures, prevention and comparative analysis of COVID-19 with other epidemic situations.

scholarly journals Dynamic quarantine: a comparative analysis of the Chilean public health response to COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Grebe ◽  
Javier A. Vélez ◽  
Anton Tiutiunnyk ◽  
Diego Aragón-Caqueo ◽  
Javier Fernández-Salinas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Transmission Rate ◽  
National Level ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Primary Vector

Abstract In this study, an analysis of the Chilean public health response to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 is presented. The analysis is based on the daily transmission rate (DTR). The Chilean response has been based on dynamic quarantines, which are established, lifted or prolonged based on the percentage of infected individuals in the fundamental administrative sections, called communes. This analysis is performed at a national level, at the level of the Metropolitan Region (MR) and at the commune level in the MR according to whether the commune did or did not enter quarantine between late March and mid-May of 2020. The analysis shows a certain degree of efficacy in controlling the pandemic using the dynamic quarantine strategy. However, it also shows that apparent control has only been partially achieved to date. With this policy, the control of the DTR partially falls to 4%, where it settles, and the MR is the primary vector of infection at the country level. For this reason, we can conclude that the MR has not managed to control the disease, with variable results within its own territory.

scholarly journals The prevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 among blood donors in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Chang ◽  
Wangheng Hou ◽  
Lei Zhao ◽  
Yali Zhang ◽  
Yanbin Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Donors ◽  
Antibody Testing ◽  
Old Adults ◽  
Viral Spread ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Independent Risk Factors ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Age And Sex

AbstractIn this study, we investigate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among blood donors in the cities of Wuhan, Shenzhen, and Shijiazhuang in China. From January to April 2020, 38,144 healthy blood donors in the three cities were tested for total antibody against SARS-CoV-2 followed by pseudotype SARS-CoV-2 neutralization tests, IgG, and IgM antibody testing. Finally, a total of 398 donors were confirmed positive. The age- and sex-standardized SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among 18–60 year-old adults (18–65 year-old in Shenzhen) was 2.66% (95% CI: 2.24%–3.07%) in Wuhan, 0.033% (95% CI: 0.0029%–0.267%) in Shenzhen, and 0.0028% (95% CI: 0.0001%–0.158%) in Shijiazhuang, respectively. Female sex and older-age were identified to be independent risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity among blood donors in Wuhan. As most of the population of China remained uninfected during the early wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, effective public health measures are still certainly required to block viral spread before a vaccine is widely available.

scholarly journals Panic and Trust during COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study on Immigrants in South Korea

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Myeong Sook Yoon ◽  
Israel Fisseha Feyissa ◽  
So-Won Suk
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Native Community ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Public ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Local Media ◽  
Effective Public Health

In the COVID-19 pandemic, marginalized groups like migrants are disproportionately affected. As panic, fear of neglect, and mistrusting institutions in these groups are presumed to be apparent, their detachment to health services still needs to be investigated. This study comparatively analyzed the level of panic and trust between South Koreans and immigrants who are living within highly affected areas of South Korea. Mann–Whitney-U-Test and Pearson correlation showed panic is more pronounced in the Korean group while having a similar panic display pattern with the immigrants. The immigrant group appears to highly trust the Korean health system, health institutions, local media, and the local native community. Beyond conventional expectations, participant’s average panic score showed a statistically significant positive correlation with items of the trust scale, indicating a level of individual reliance amid the pandemic panic. Thus, ascertaining institutional trust and matured citizenry are identified as factors for effective public health outcomes. During such a pandemic, this study also reminded the public health needs of immigrants as secondary citizens, and presumptions of immigrants’ mistrust in such settings might not always be true.

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