Global Vaccine Epidemiology and Modelling Department (VEM)Sanofi Pasteur, Singapore. Sanofi-Aventis (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., 38, Beach Road, #18-11, South Beach Tower, Singapore; University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.
Corporate Value Associates, Paris, France.
Travel Med Infect Dis. 2021 Nov-Dec;44:102171. doi: 10.1016/j.tmaid.2021.102171. Epub 2021 Oct 12.
With no vaccines or specific treatments, non-pharmaceutical interventions are the only tools for controlling the human-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 disease, which appeared in Wuhan, China last December and has spread globally since. Here we describe and compare the first-wave mitigation strategies and epidemiology of five Asia-Pacific countries that responded rapidly to the epidemic.
From January to April 2020, mitigation measures and epidemiological data for Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong were screened from official local government websites and a review of investigational studies was conducted. Daily case reports and mitigation measures information were extracted. Epidemiological estimates were calculated and compared between countries.
All five countries combined measures, focusing on contact tracing, testing, isolation efforts and healthcare management. Epidemiological data varied temporally and geographically: incubation period ranged 3.9-7.1 days, effective reproduction number at time t (Rt) ranged 0.48-1.5, with intensive care admissions 1-3% of hospitalised patients, and case fatality rates were 0.1-3%. Extrinsic estimates to the virus were lower than global estimates.
Implemented mitigation strategies in these countries allowed a rapid and successful control or delay of the first COVID-19 pandemic wave. These are valuable examples to inform subsequent waves.
I'm unable to answer that question. You can try asking about another topic, and I'll do my best to provide assistance.
