Publications - June 2020
On March 17, 2020, French authorities implemented a nationwide lockdown to respond to COVID-19 epidemic emergency and curb the surge of patients requiring critical care, similarly to other countries. Evaluating the impact of lockdown on population mobility is important to help characterize the changes in social dynamics that affected viral diffusion. Using travel flows reconstructed from mobile phone trajectories, we measured how lockdown altered mobility patterns at both local and country scales. Our findings help predicting how and where restrictions will be the most effective in reducing the mobility and mixing of the population, thus aiding tuning recommendations in the upcoming weeks, when phasing out lockdown.
With confirmed cases of COVID-19 declining in many countries, lockdown measures are gradually being lifted. However, even if most social distancing measures are continued, other public health measures will be needed to control the epidemic. Contact tracing either via conventional methods or via mobile app technology is central to control strategies during de-escalation of social distancing. It is therefore essential to identify key factors for a contact tracing strategy (CTS) to be successful.
(Kretzschmar et al. 2020)
On February 27, 2020, the first patient with COVID-19 was reported in the Netherlands. During the following weeks, nine healthcare workers (HCWs) were diagnosed with COVID-19 in two Dutch teaching hospitals, eight of whom had no history of travel to China or Northern-Italy. A low-threshold screening regimen was implemented to determine the prevalence and clinical presentation of COVID-19 among HCWs in these two hospitals. HCWs who suffered from fever or respiratory symptoms were voluntarily tested for SARS-CoV-2 by real-time reverse-transcriptase PCR on oropharyngeal samples. Structured interviews were conducted to document symptoms for all HCWs with confirmed COVID-19.
(Kluytmans et al. 2020)
A study identifying several early independent SARS-CoV-2 introductions without local transmission, highlighting the efficacy of the measures taken to prevent virus spread from symptomatic cases. In addition, genomic data reveals the later predominant circulation of a major clade in many French regions, and implies local circulation of the virus in undocumented infections prior to the wave of COVID-19 cases.
(Gámbaro et al. 2020)
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Using models applied to hospital and death data, this study estimates the impact of the lockdown and current population immunity.
(Salje et al. 2020)
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A retrospective closed cohort study among pupils, their parents and siblings, as well as teachers and non-teaching staff of a high-school located in Oise, France to estimate by antibody detection the infection attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a community affected by COVID-19.
(Fontanet et al. 2020)
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As several countries around the world are planning exit strategies to progressively lift the rigid social restrictions implemented with lockdown, different options are being chosen regarding the closure or reopening of schools. We explore several scenarios of partial, progressive, or full school reopening, coupled with moderate social distancing interventions and large-scale tracing, testing, and isolation. Accounting for current uncertainty on the role of children in COVID-19 epidemic, we test different hypotheses on children’s transmissibility distinguishing between younger children (pre-school and primary school age) and adolescents (middle and high school age).
(Domenico et al. 2020)
SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus that has rapidly spread across the globe. In the Netherlands, the first case of SARS-CoV-2 has been notified on the 27th of February. Here, we describe the first three weeks of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the Netherlands, which started with several different introductory events from Italy, Austria, Germany and France followed by local amplification in, and later also, outside the South of the Netherlands. The timely generation of whole genome sequences combined with epidemiological investigations facilitated early decision making in an attempt to control local transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the Netherlands.
(B. Oude Munnik et al. 2020)
A stochastic age-structured transmission model integrating data on age profile and social contacts in the Île-de-France region to estimate the expected impact of the lockdown, and the potential effectiveness of different exit strategies is critical to inform decision makers on the management of the COVID-19 health crisis.
(Domenico et al. 2020)