Disaster medicine and public health preparedness
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
Strategies for Optimizing the Supply of N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirators During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic.
N95 respirators are personal protective equipment most often used to control exposures to infections transmitted via the airborne route. Supplies of N95 respirators can become depleted during pandemics or when otherwise in high demand. ⋯ Consultation with federal, state, and local public health officials is also important. We use the framework of surge capacity and the occupational health and safety hierarchy of controls approach to discuss specific engineering control, administrative control, and personal protective equipment measures that may help in optimizing N95 respirator supplies.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
Pandemic March: 2019 Coronavirus Disease's First Wave Circumnavigates the Globe.
March 2020 was a pivotal month for the worldwide geographic and numeric expansion of the first wave of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). We examined the major storylines that depicted this explosive spread of COVID-19 around the globe. ⋯ March 2020 was a consequential month when the COVID-19 pandemic wrapped completely around the planet, with outbreaks erupting in most nations worldwide.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
Predicted Effects of Stopping COVID-19 Lockdown on Italian Hospital Demand.
Italy has been one of the first countries to implement mitigation measures to curb the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. There is currently a debate on when and how such measures should be loosened. To forecast the demand for hospital intensive care unit (ICU) and non-ICU beds for COVID-19 patients from May to September, we developed 2 models, assuming a gradual easing of restrictions or an intermittent lockdown. ⋯ Italian hospital demand is likely to remain high in the next months. If restrictions are reduced, planning for the next several months should consider an increase in health-care resources to maintain surge capacity across the country.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
Epidemiological Characteristics on the Clustering Nature of COVID-19 in Qingdao City, 2020: A Descriptive Analysis.
As an emerging infectious disease, COVID-19 has involved many countries and regions. With the further development of the epidemic, the proportion of clusters has increased. ⋯ More attention should be paid to the epidemic of clusters in prevention and control of COVID-19. In addition to isolating patients, it is essential to track, screen, and isolate those who have come in close contact with patients. Self-isolation is the key especially for healthy people in the epidemic area.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
Epidemiologic Features of 135 Patients With Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Tianjin, China.
This study describes the epidemiologic features of an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Tianjin caused by a novel coronavirus and provides the scientific basis for prevention and control measures. ⋯ Current information suggests that people are generally susceptible to COVID-19, which has shown a familial clustering in Tianjin.