This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the available evidence to date regarding physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent spread of COVID-19. The authors identified 172 observational studies across 16 countries and six continents, with no randomized controlledRead More
About Erika Cheng
July 9, 2020
This Viewpoint discusses how COVID-19–related policy decisions lead to trade-offs between medical, economic, social, and psychological outcomes, and emphasizes the need to account for deaths associated with unemployment and depression when estimating excess mortality. The author believes that with newRead More
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July 9, 2020
This study describes COVID-19 case rates and deaths among federal and state prisoners in the United States and compares them with the general population. Results show that COVID-19 case rates have been substantially higher and escalating much more rapidly in prisonsRead More
July 7, 2020
This community-based cohort study of 387,109 adults in UK found that unhealthy behaviors accounted for up to 51% of the population attributable fraction of severe COVID-19. Participants were 387,109 men and women (56.4 ± 8.8 yr; 55.1% women) residing inRead More
July 7, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought tighter restrictions on the daily lives of millions of people, but we do not yet understand what measures are the most effective. This study modeled virus transmission in Wuhan, China, in February 2020, investigating theRead More
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July 6, 2020
COVID-19 can cause asymptomatic and mild illness, particularly among young, healthy populations. This CDC investigation of an outbreak of COVID-19 among a group of college-aged travelers and their contacts demonstrated that 28% had positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test results, approximately oneRead More
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July 6, 2020
Modeling and forecasting the spread of COVID-19 remains a challenge. This report details three regional-scale models for forecasting and assessing the course of the pandemic: 1) exponential growth, 2) self-exciting branching process, and 3) the susceptible–infected–resistant (SIR) compartment model. In presentingRead More
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July 6, 2020
A recent mathematical modelling study using mobile phone data found that individual decisions to reduce movement – even before state-wide stay-at-home policies were introduced – likely helped slow the spread of COVID-19 in the USA The authors examined daily mobilityRead More
July 2, 2020
Obesity has been found to be a risk factor for hospitalization with COVID‐19. This cross-sectional study analyzed whether patients hospitalized with COVID‐19 differed in BMI at older versus younger ages, and determined whether trends were independent of diabetes and hypertension.Read More
July 2, 2020
Evaluating unexplained increases in deaths due to all causes or attributed to nonspecific outcomes, such as pneumonia and influenza, can provide a more complete picture of the burden of COVID-19. This observational study estimates the burden of all deaths relatedRead More