Department of Dental Education College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Science Dental Material, Azra Naheed Dental College, Superior University, Lahore, Pakistan.
F1000Res. 2021 Feb 10;10:88. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.36705.2. eCollection 2021.
The purpose of the study was to compare trends in the progression of COVID-19 among South Asian countries with more developed Western countries. COVID-19 data from South Asian countries were used for this observational study. Data were taken up to April 21, 2020 from the outbreak of the COVID-19. Four of the seven countries met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. An exponential increase in the average number of weekly cases was reported after the fifth week following the first case. The correlation between reported cases and tests was found to be strong and significant (r=0.90, p=0.037). However, on average, 315.25 tests per million population were performed, which was at least 12 times lower than the number of tests performed in countries with a large number of COVID-19 cases. At present, the number of confirmed cases from South Asia was found to be significantly lower than in Western countries. Hence, an increase in the strength of performing diagnostic tests is highly recommended. Strict measures are required to make the people of these countries follow the instructions of social distancing and comply with preventive measures.
本研究旨在比较 COVID-19 在南亚国家和更发达的西方国家的进展趋势。本观察性研究使用了来自南亚国家的 COVID-19 数据。数据取自 COVID-19 爆发开始至 2020 年 4 月 21 日。有七个国家符合纳入标准，被纳入分析。自首例病例后的第五周开始，每周平均病例数呈指数级增长。报告的病例数与检测数之间的相关性很强且显著(r=0.90，p=0.037)。然而，平均而言，每百万人进行了 315.25 次检测，这比 COVID-19 病例较多的国家的检测次数至少低 12 倍。目前，南亚的确诊病例数量明显低于西方国家。因此，强烈建议加强诊断检测的力度。需要采取严格措施，使这些国家的人民遵守社交距离的指示，并遵守预防措施。
