Purpose
The Actionable Register of Geneva Outpatients with SARS-CoV-2 (ARGOS) is an ongoing prospective cohort created by the Geneva Directorate of Health (GDH). It consists of an operational database compiling all SARS-CoV-2 test results conducted in the Geneva area since late February 2020. While the disease evolution of patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 are now relatively numerous, the same cannot be said for outpatients. This article aims at presenting a comprehensive outpatient cohort in light of the varying public health measures in Geneva, Switzerland, since March 2020.
Participants
As of July 28, 2020, the database included 58 226 patients, among which 6848 had at least one positive test result for SARS-CoV-2. Among all positive patients, 66.8% were contacted once, and 21% of participants had 3 or more follow-up calls. Participation rate is 96.9%. Data collection is ongoing.
Findings to date
ARGOS data illustrates the magnitude of COVID-19 pandemic in Geneva, Switzerland, and details a variety of population factors and outcomes. The content of the cohort includes demographic data, comorbidities and risk factors for poor clinical outcome, COVID-19 symptoms, environmental and socio-economic factors, contact tracing data, hospitalizations and deaths.
Future plans:
The data of this large real-world registry provides a valuable resource for various types of research, such as epidemiological research or policy assessment as it illustrates the impact of public health policies and overall disease burden of COVID-19.
STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY
- ARGOS main strength consists of its large number of cases, representative of all diagnosed cases on a regional level with the primary aim of assessing all cases.
- ARGOS involves every tested individual and is not limited to hospitalized patients, thus providing a valuable resource to assess the impact of public health policies and overall disease burden of COVID-19 in a geographically defined population.
- To mitigate confounding effects and improve data analysis and interpretation, we present the data according to four policy periods.
- This cohort is multicentric as it includes all tests performed in Geneva's hospitals (both public and private), private practices and medical centers.
- Due to operational needs, symptoms and comorbidities are self-reported, which may lead to measurement error or misclassification.