COVID-19 outbreaks in residential aged care facilities: an agent-based modeling study.

Introduction: A disproportionate number of COVID-19 deaths occur in Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs), where better evidence is needed to target COVID-19 interventions to prevent mortality. This study used an agent-based model to assess the role of community prevalence, vaccination strategies, and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on COVID-19 outcomes in RACFs in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: The model simulated outbreaks in RACFs over time, and was calibrated to distributions for outbreak size, outbreak duration, and case fatality rate in Victorian RACFs over 2022.

Effectiveness of community-based oral antiviral treatments against severe COVID-19 outcomes in people 70 years and over in Victoria, Australia, 2022: an observational study.

Background: Oral Antiviral (OAV) COVID-19 treatments are widely used, but evidence for their effectiveness against the Omicron variant in higher risk, vaccinated individuals is limited.

Methods: Retrospective study of two vaccinated cohorts of COVID-19 cases aged ≥70 years diagnosed during a BA.4/5 Omicron wave in Victoria, Australia.