Research on COVID-19
COVID-19 Omicron Variant Rapid Report
On 26 November 2021, the World Health Organisation designated SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 a ‘variant of concern’ and named it Omicron.
The Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health summarises the emerging information, expert opinion and evidence around Omicron in a rapid review that will be updated at weekly intervals as the evidence gathers.
This report continues the series of COVID-19 Science Reports produced by the School in 2020 when Singapore saw its first cases.
Publications
2021 – 2022
Epidemiological, Clinical, and Phylogenetic Characteristics of the First SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in a Nursing Home of Singapore: A Prospective Observational Investigation
Journal: Frontiers In Medicine | Published: January 2022 | DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150060
Wastewater surveillance to infer COVID-19 transmission: A systematic review
Journal: Science of the Total Environment | Published: September 2021 | DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150060
Impact of travel ban implementation on COVID-19 spread in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea during the early phase of the pandemic: a comparative study
Journal: BMC Infectious Diseases | Published: August 2021 | DOI: 10.1186/s12879-021-06449-1
Factors associated with high compliance behaviour against COVID-19 in the early phase of pandemic: a cross-sectional study in 12 Asian countries
Journal: BMJ Open | Published: August 2021 | DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046310
Factors influencing SARS-CoV-2 transmission and outbreak control measures in densely populated settings
Journal: Scientific Reports | Published: July 2021 | DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94463-3
Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of non-severe and severe pediatric and adult COVID-19 patients across different geographical regions in the early phase of pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies
Journal: BMJ Journal of Investigative Medicine | Published: June 2021 | DOI: 10.1136/jim-2021-001858
Association between well-being and compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures by healthcare professionals: A cross-sectional study
Journal: PLOS One | Published: June 2021 | DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252835
Estimating direct and spill-over impacts of political elections on COVID-19 transmission using synthetic control methods
Journal: PLOS Computational Biology | Published: May 2021 | DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008959
Micronutrients Deficiency, Supplementation and Novel Coronavirus Infections—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Journal: Nutrients | Published: May 2021 | DOI: 10.3390/nu13051589
How the lessons of previous epidemics helped successful countries fight covid-19
Journal: BMJ | Published: March 2021 | DOI: 10.1136/bmj.n486
Highly functional virus-specific cellular immune response in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection
Journal: Journal of Experimental Medicine | Published: March 2021 | DOI: 10.1084/jem.20202617
The Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic on Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Journal: Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology | Published: February 2021 | DOI: 10.1111/jgh.15466
2020
Infectivity of asymptomatic versus symptomatic COVID-19
Journal: The Lancet | Published: December 2020 | DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32651-9
SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and transmission risk factors among high-risk close contacts: a retrospective cohort study
Journal: The Lancet Infectious Diseases | Published: November 2020 | DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30833-1
Lessons learnt from easing COVID-19 restrictions: an analysis of countries and regions in Asia Pacific and Europe
Journal: The Lancet | Published: September 2020 | DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32007-9
Revealing regional disparities in the transmission potential of SARS-CoV-2 from interventions in Southeast Asia
Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B | Published: August 2020 | DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1173
Strategies at points of entry to reduce importation risk of COVID-19 cases and reopen travel
Journal: Journal of Travel Medicine | Published: August 2020 | DOI: 10.1093/jtm/taaa141
Importations of COVID-19 into African countries and risk of onward spread
Journal: BMC Infectious Diseases | Published: August 2020 | DOI: 10.1186/s12879-020-05323-w
The Costs of an Expanded Screening Criteria for COVID-19: A Modelling Study
Journal: International Journal of Infectious Diseases | Published: August 2020 | DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.08.025
Modelling lockdown and exit strategies for COVID-19 in Singapore
Journal: ScienceDirect | Published: August 2020 | DOI: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2020.100004
The Practice of Gastrointestinal Motility Laboratory During COVID-19 Pandemic: Position Statements of the Asian Neurogastroenterology and Motility Association (ANMA-GML-COVID-19 Position Statements)
Journal: Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility | Published: July 2020 | DOI: 10.5056/jnm20107
Use of Health Belief Model–Based Deep Learning Classifiers for COVID-19 Social Media Content to Examine Public Perceptions of Physical Distancing: Model Development and Case Study
Journal: JMIR Public Health and Surveillance | Published: July 2020 | DOI: 10.2196/20493
Estimating the Size of a COVID-19 Epidemic from Surveillance Systems
Journal: Epidemiology | Published: July 2020 | DOI: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000001202
Ethical Implementation of Immunity Passports During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Journal: The Journal of Infectious Diseases | Published: June 2020 | DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa352
Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Cases During the Early Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Journal: Frontiers in Medicine | Published: June 2020 | DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2020.00295
Assessment of Proficiency of N95 Mask Donning Among the General Public in Singapore
Journal: JAMA Network Open | Published: May 2020 | DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.9670
Measuring the Outreach Efforts of Public Health Authorities and the Public Response on Facebook During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Early 2020: Cross-Country Comparison
Journal: Journal of Medical Internet Research | Published: May 2020 | DOI: 10.2196/19334
Connecting clusters of COVID-19: an epidemiological and serological investigation
Journal: The Lancet Infectious Diseases | Published: April 2020 | DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30273-5
Institutional, not home-based, isolation could contain the COVID-19 outbreak
Journal: The Lancet | Published: April 2020 | DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31016-3
A Systematic Review of COVID-19 Epidemiology Based on Current Evidence
Journal: Journal of Clinical Medicine | Published: March 2020 | DOI: 10.3390/jcm9040967
Covid-19: a remote assessment in primary care
Journal: BMJ | Published: March 2020 | DOI: 10.1136/bmj.m1182
Epidemiological and Clinical Predictors of COVID-19
Journal: Clinical Infectious Diseases | Published: March 2020 | DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciaa322
Interventions to mitigate early spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Singapore: a modelling study
Journal: The Lancet Infectious Diseases | Published: March 2020 | DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30162-6
How Should the Rehabilitation Community Prepare for 2019-nCoV?
Journal: Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation | Published: March 2020 | DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2020.03.003
Investigation of three clusters of COVID-19 in Singapore: implications for surveillance and response measures
Journal: The Lancet | Published: March 2020 | DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30528-6
Potential Rapid Diagnostics, Vaccine and Therapeutics for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV): A Systematic Review
Journal: Journal of Clinical Medicine | Published: February 2020 | DOI: 10.3390/jcm9030623
SSHSPH COVID-19 Science Reports
When Singapore saw its first case of COVID-19 on 24 January 2020, the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health started to collate emerging evidence to produce COVID-19 Science Reports for researchers, policymakers and regional colleagues. The reports were based on searches of research databases, relevant journals, science reports and expert comment, and were updated at weekly intervals until July 2020. The last versions are shared below.
Introduction
Clinical Characteristics
Fever, tiredness, cough and sore throat are the most common presenting symptoms and many cases are mild. Older people and those with underlying medical conditions like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness. Early identification through analysis of detailed clinical presentations supports understanding and care of these high-risk groups. This section reviews the latest evidence.
Diagnostics
As COVID-19 has similar clinical characteristics to many other respiratory illnesses, accurate and timely diagnosis contributes to prompt public health surveillance, prevention and control measures. Latest developments in diagnostic testing for COVID-19 are outlined in this section.
Therapeutics
There is currently no specific drug treatment for COVID-19. Existing drugs used to treat other conditions may be candidates and repurposed for COVID-19, and are undergoing clinical trials. This section summarises the research in relation to potential drug treatments.
Vaccines
There are currently no vaccines effective against COVID-19. There has been no significant change in the RNA of the virus since its emergence and potential vaccines are in development. This section provides an overview of vaccines in research and development.
Containment Measures
Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) are often the only options available to governments to contain an evolving outbreak until the arrival of medical solutions. This section surveys the current literature on NPIs used in outbreaks of respiratory diseases and summarises the key measures taken, evidence on their effectiveness and efficiency, and considerations and impact from their deployment.
Lockdowns
This report explores the learning around lockdown measures from the 1918 pandemic and current COVID-19 case study examples. This report should be read alongside the COVID-19 Science Report: Containment Measures (above).
Exit Strategies
Exit Strategies Appendix - Safe Reopening of Schools
Countries around the world have implemented various combinations of safe measures in the reopening of schools. This appendix reviews these measures and discusses the rationale and considerations behind them.