ABSTRACT
The proportion of asymptomatic carriers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains elusive and the potential benefit of systematic screening during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is controversial. We investigated the proportion of asymptomatic inpatients who were identified by systematic screening for SARS-CoV-2 upon hospital admission. Our analysis revealed that systematic screening of asymptomatic inpatients detects a low total number of SARS-CoV-2 infections (0.1%), questioning the cost-benefit ratio of this intervention. Even when the population-wide prevalence was low, the proportion of asymptomatic carriers remained stable, supporting the need for universal infection prevention and control strategies to avoid onward transmission by undetected SARS-CoV-2-carriers during the pandemic.
Subject(s)
Asymptomatic Infections/epidemiology , COVID-19/diagnosis , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , Aged , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/transmission , COVID-19 Testing/economics , COVID-19 Testing/methods , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Female , Humans , Male , Mass Screening/economics , Mass Screening/methods , Middle Aged , Switzerland/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The reproductive number in Switzerland was between 1.5 and 2 during the first third of March, and has consistently decreased to around 1. After the announcement of the latest strict measure on 20 March 2020, namely that gatherings of more than five people in public spaces are prohibited, the reproductive number dropped significantly below 1; the authors of this study estimate the reproductive number to be between 0.6 and 0.8 in the first third of April.