Introduction: the level five (L5) lockdown was a very stringent social distancing measure taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19 infections. This study assessed the impact of the L5 lockdown and its association with the incidence of COVID-19 cases in South Africa (SA).
Methods: data was obtained from the National Department of Health (NDoH) from the 5 March to the 30 April 2020. A basic reproductive number (R0) and a serial interval were used to calculate estimated cases (EC). A double exponential smoothing model was used to forecast the number of cases during the L5 lockdown period. A Poisson regression model was fitted to describe the association between L5 lockdown status and incident cases.
Results: a total of 5,737 laboratory-confirmed cases (LCC) were reported by 30 April 2020, 4,785 (83%) occurred during L5 lockdown. Our model forecasted 30,629 cases of COVID-19 assuming L5 lockdown was not imposed. High incidence rates of COVID-19 were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga Provinces during the L5 lockdown compared to the other provinces. Nationally, the incident rate of COVID-19 was 68.00% higher in L5 lockdown than pre-lockdown for LCC.
Conclusion: the L5 lockdown was very effective in reducing the incidence of COVID-19 cases. However, the incident rates of LCC and EC were higher nationally, and in some provinces during the L5 lockdown.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8418176 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2021.39.144.28201 | DOI Listing |
New Microbes New Infect
February 2025
Department of Global and Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, WHO Collaborating Centre for Travellers' Health, Centre of Competence for Military Medicine Biology, University of Zürich, Switzerland.
Background: The rapid development and distribution of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines has been essential in containing the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic around the globe. For ongoing and future immunization campaigns globally, there is a need to evaluate the impact of population demographics such as age and sex, on vaccine efficacy and safety.
Methods: This systematic review (PROSPERO ID CRD42023328245) conducted according to PRISMA guidelines evaluates the impact of age and sex on the safety and efficacy of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations administrated in 15 studies that were chosen according to strict criteria.
Can Med Educ J
December 2024
Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the healthcare system, affecting physician wellbeing. The consequences of reduced time spent with patients at bedside during the pandemic has not been investigated. The objectives of this study include assessing time spent with patients, physician wellbeing and patient satisfaction before and during the pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMath Biosci Eng
December 2024
Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA.
Control and prevention strategies are indispensable tools for managing the spread of infectious diseases. This paper examined biological models for the post-vaccination stage of a viral outbreak that integrate two important mitigation tools: social distancing, aimed at reducing the disease transmission rate, and vaccination, which boosts the immune system. Five different scenarios of epidemic progression were considered: (ⅰ) the "no control" scenario, reflecting the natural evolution of a disease without any safety measures in place, (ⅱ) the "reconstructed" scenario, representing real-world data and interventions, (ⅲ) the "social distancing control" scenario covering a broad set of behavioral changes, (ⅳ) the "vaccine control" scenario demonstrating the impact of vaccination on epidemic spread, and (ⅴ) the "both controls concurrently" scenario incorporating social distancing and vaccine controls simultaneously.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisaster Med Public Health Prep
January 2025
Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
Objective: In the course of the EU funded Pandemic Preparedness and Response (PANDEM-2) project, a functional exercise (FX) was conducted to train the coordinated response to a large-scale pandemic event in Europe by using new IT solutions developed by the project. This report provides an overview of the steps involved in planning, conducting, and evaluating the FX.
Methods: The FX design was based on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) simulation exercise cycle for public health settings and was carried out over 2 days in the German and Dutch national public health institutes (PHI), with support from other consortium PHIs.
J Korean Med Sci
January 2025
Department of Preventive Medicine, Gachon University College of Medicine, Incheon, Korea.
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has altered daily behavioral patterns based on government healthcare policies, including consumption and movement patterns. We aimed to examine the extent to which changes in the government's healthcare policy have affected people's lives, primarily focusing on changes in consumption and population movements.
Methods: We collected consumption data using weekly credit card transaction data from the Hana Card Corporation and population mobility data using mobile phone data from SK Telecom in Seoul, South Korea.
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!