A framework for identifying regional outbreak and spread of COVID-19 from one-minute population-wide surveys

Hagai Rossman; Ayya Keshet; Smadar Shilo; Amir Gavrieli; Tal Bauman; Ori Cohen; Ran Balicer; Benjamin Geiger; Yuval Dor; Eran Segal

In Israel, the first infection of COVID-19 was confirmed on February 21st 2020, and in response, the Israeli Ministry of Health (MOH) instructed individuals who returned to Israel from specific countries, in which COVID-19 was spreading, to go into a 14-day home isolation. Since then, Israel has gradually imposed several measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus (Figure 2 ). On March 9th, 14-day home isolation was extended to individuals arriving from anywhere in the world starting from their date of arrival. Individuals that were in close contact, defined by being within approximately 2 meters (6 ft 7 in) from a COVID-19 patient for more than 15 minutes, were also instructed to be in home isolation for a similar time period. Symptomatic individuals with fever above 38 Celsius and respiratory symptoms (cough or shortness of breath) were instructed to stay home for two days after the fever has dropped down 3 . On March 11th, gatherings were limited to a maximum of 100 people and on March 15th, to 10 people, with attendees advised to keep a minimal distance of 2 m (6 ft 7 in) between one another. On March 19th, a national state of emergency was declared in the country, and Israeli citizens were banned from leaving their homes unless absolutely necessary with the exception of essential services that remained open. On March 20st, the first death of an Isreali citizen as a result of COVID-19 infection occurred.