COVID-19 in one region of New Zealand: a descriptive epidemiological study.

Aust N Z J Public Health

Public Health South, Southern District Health Board, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Published: December 2022

Objective: To describe the epidemiology of COVID-19 in one region of New Zealand in the context of the national lockdown and provide a reference for comparing infection dynamics and control measures between SARS-Cov-2 strains.  Methods: Epidemiological linking and analysis of COVID-19 cases and their close contacts residing in the geographical area served by the Southern District Health Board (SDHB).  Results: From 13 March to 5 April 5 2020, 186 cases were laboratory-confirmed with wild-type Sars-Cov-2 in SDHB. Overall, 35·1% of cases were attributable to household transmission, 27·0% to non-household, 25·4% to overseas travel and 12·4% had no known epidemiological links. The highest secondary attack rate was observed in households during lockdown (15·3%, 95%CI 10·4-21·5). The mean serial interval in 50 exclusive infector-infectee pairs was 4·0 days (95%CI 3·2-4·7days), and the mean incubation period was 3.4 days (95%CI 2·7-4·2).

Conclusions: The SARS-CoV-2 incubation period may be shorter than early estimates that were limited by uncertainties in exposure history or small sample sizes.

Implications For Public Health: The continuation of household transmission during lockdown highlights the need for effective home-based quarantine guidance. Our findings of a short incubation period highlight the need to contact trace and isolate as rapidly as possible.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9874785PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1753-6405.13305DOI Listing

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