COVID-19 Tests and International Travel: How Long Will You Test Positive for SAR-CoV-2?

Coronavirus diseases, from SARS to MERS and now COVID-19, have major implications for the aviation industry and international travels. Although many cities and countries are adopting 'live with COVID' strategies, various rules and regulations are still in place. Documents demonstrating COVID-19 vaccination or recovery from the disease have now become a basic re-quirement to enter many travel destinations, while some still require pre-entry and/or post-arrival testing of COVID-19. Recently, the author's household became COVID-19 positive in late March 2022, as diagnosed by rapid antigen test (RAT), in Singapore whilst enroute to Hong Kong. This had an immediate knock-on impact on hotel quarantine and travel arrangements. Rapid antigen test (RAT) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) based tests have been used for quarantine, isolation and international travel purposes. The implications and issues of these tests are discussed. Ideally, a COVID-19 test that is fit for purpose should aim at identifying individuals who are infectious with risk of transmission only. Frequent surveillance with an effective RAT may be a more practical so-lution to normalize international travel without compromising public safety. Meanwhile, physicians have an important role in counselling anxious and often confused travelers before and during international travels. International travelers should be aware of the implications of these COVID-19 testing results, and plan, schedule and have travel insurance accordingly.Copyright © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.

COVID-19 in Hong Kong - Public health, food safety, and animal vectors perspectives.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by infection with a novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2), has led to escalating morbidity and mortality in all nations and cities. SARS-CoV-2 lies within the same coronavirus family as SARS-CoV (2003) and MERS-CoV (2012), though there are genetic and epidemiological differences between the viruses, as well as different clinical presentations in the patients. Despite this, Hong Kong has so far managed to control the pandemic very successfully. Here we offer a Hong Kong perspective on different aspects of the pandemic virus (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease : public health (diagnosis and control), food safety (reducing transmission in the workplace) and animal vectors (controlling potential reservoirs of the virus and their movements).

Airway management in children with COVID-19.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) may result in acute respiratory distress syndrome and respiratory failure, necessitating mechanical respiratory support. Healthcare professionals are exposed to a particularly high risk of contracting the virus while providing resuscitation and respiratory support, which may in turn result in grave consequences and even death. Although COVID-19 has been shown to cause milder disease in children, paediatricians and intensivists who provide care for children must be prepared to provide optimal respiratory support without putting themselves or other medical, nursing, and paramedical staff at undue risk. We propose an airway management approach that is especially relevant in the current COVID-19 pandemic and provides instructions for: (1) Elective intubation for respiratory failure; and (2) Emergency intubation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. To minimise risk, intubation methods must be kept as straightforward as possible and should include the provision of appropriate personal protection and equipment to healthcare workers. We identify two key considerations: that bag-mask ventilation should be avoided if possible and that bacterial and viral filters should be placed in the respiratory circuit. Our novel approach provides a framework for airway management that could benefit paediatric critical care practitioners who provide care for any children with a novel viral illness, with a focus on infection prevention during high-risk airway management procedures.