Transmission Dynamics of COVID-19 and Impact on Public Health Policy

B Shayak; Mohit Manoj Sharma; Richard H Rand; Awadhesh Kumar Singh; Anoop Misra

The SARS outbreak started in Guangdong, China in 2002 and spread across 29 countries, causing 8096 cases and 774 deaths, for a case fatality rate (CFR) of 9.6 percent. SARS is primarily transmitted by respiratory droplets, direct contact and fomite-based contact and has an R0 of approximately 2.5-3.0 [17] [18] [19] . During the outbreak, people with suspected illness were isolated from the hospitals, those travelling from SARS affected countries were instructed to monitor their health for 10 days and visit a hospital in case of any symptoms [20] , and close contacts of reported cases were quarantined. A study [21] demonstrated that always wearing a mask when going out was associated with 70% reduction in risk compared to never wearing a mask. A second study conducted in Taipei [22] showed that having checkpoint alcohol dispensers for glove-on hand rubbing between zones of risk, along with thermal (fever) screening at special stations outside the emergency department, helped in effectively minimizing nosocomial SARS infection of HCWs.