A problem of self-isolation in Japan: The relationship between self-isolation and COVID-19 community case.

Background: The Japanese government advised mild or asymptomatic coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) cases to self-isolate at home, while more severe individuals were treated at health posts. Poor compliance with self-isolation could be a potential reason for the new outbreak. Our study aimed to find out the correlation between the rising new cases of COVID-19 and home-based patients in Japan. Methods: A secondary data analysis study was conducted with the data from COVID-19- involved databases collected from Johns Hopkins University, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and Community Mobility Reports of Google. New community cases, stringency index, number of tests, and active cases were analyzed. Using a linear regression model, an independent variable was utilized for a given date to predict the future number of community cases. Results: Research results show that outpatient cases, the stringency, and Google Mobility Trend were all significantly associated with the number of COVID-19 community cases from the sixth day to the ninth day. The model predicting community cases on the eighth day (R2=0.8906) was the most appropriate showing outpatients, residential index, grocery and pharmacy index, retail and recreation index, and workplaces index were positively related (ß1=24.2, 95% CI: 20.3- 26.3, P<0.0001; ß2=277.7, 95% CI: 171.8-408.2, P<0.0001; ß3=112.4, 95% CI: 79.8-158.3, P<0.0001; ß4=73.1, 95% CI: 53- 04.4, P<0.0001; ß5=57.2, 95% CI: 25.2-96.8, P=0.001, respectively). In contrast, inpatients, park index, and adjusted stringency index were negatively related to the number of community cases (ß6=-2.8, 95% CI: -3.9 - -1.6, P<0.0001; ß7=-33, 95% CI: -43.6 - -27, P<0.0001; ß8=-14.4, 95% CI: -20.1- -12, P<0.0001, respectively). Conclusion: Outpatient cases and indexes of Community Mobility Reports were associated with COVID-19 community cases.

The efficacy and adverse effects of favipiravir on patients with COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis of published clinical trials and observational studies.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and adverse events of favipiravir in patients with COVID-19. METHODS: Our protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020206305). Fourteen databases were searched until February 8th, 2021. An update search for new RCTs was done on March 2nd, 2022. Meta-analysis was done for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs. RESULTS: Overall, 157 studies (24 RCTs, 1 non-RCT, 21 observational studies, 2 case series, and 106 case reports) were included. On hospitalized patients, in comparison to standard of care, favipiravir showed a higher rate of viral clearance at day 5 (RR = 1.60, p = 0.02), defervescence at day 3-4 (RR = 1.99, p <0.01), chest radiological improvement (RR = 1.33, p <0.01), hospital discharge at day 10-11 (RR = 1.19, p <0.01), and shorter clinical improvement time (MD = -1.18, p = 0.05). Regarding adverse events, favipiravir groups had higher rates of hyperuricemia (RR = 9.42, p <0.01), increased alanine aminotransferase (RR = 1.35, p <0.01) but lower rates of nausea (RR = 0.42, p <0.01) and vomiting (R R= 0.19, p=0.02). There were no differences regarding mortality (RR=1.19, p=0.32), and increased aspartate aminotransferase (RR = 1.11, p = 0.25). On nonhospitalized patients, no significant differences were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Adding favipiravir to the standard of care provides better outcomes for hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Pregnant, lactating women, and patients with a history of hyperuricemia should avoid using favipiravir.

Universal checklist for COVID-19 control measures: consensus via a Delphi method

Declaration/announcement of emergency status Launching a public website for guidelines and information Establishing a 'coronavirus task force'/ expert board Conducting training programmes Government financial assistance for citizens/taxpayers Equal protection for immigrants/foreigners Regulation and stabilisation of food prices and daily necessities Require company to pay full salary to quarantined/isolated people Financial support to frontline cleaners, toilet attendants and security employees Free testing Free treatment Production/procurement of supplies (such as surgical masks, gloves, ventilators, or goods) Enhance production of sanitisers Enhancing hospital capacities (beds) Designating which hospitals can receive COVID-19 patients Equipping university housings, hotels, sports stadiums or building temporary hospitals to be ready to receive patients Guidelines for treatment of COVID-19 Application of telemedicine Research: Established in-house PCR assay Development of quick test kits Successfully identifying SARS-CoV-2 genes Launching clinical trial treatment of COVID-19 Launching vaccination development Call for research related to epidemiology, prevention and control measures Call for development or reuse of efficient low cost of PPE and medical devices such as ventilators Call for development of a new treatment or new drug discovery, PPE and medical devices such as ventilators Call for non-academic industries to join the research or give funds Box 1. Prohibition of group gathering more than (x) number of people in public places Physical distancing from each other in public (2 metres between individuals) Closure of schools Working from home Shelter in place Closure of public areas Closure of services Closure of public transport Closure of city/area hotspots (separating areas, restriction of movement) Protection of vulnerable people (elderly, people with suppressed immunities or relevant comorbidities: hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes, obesity) Supporting e-learning for students/tele-workplace Preventive and containment measures: Universal checklist of COVID-19 control measures (Continued) Using a medical declaration when having respiratory symptoms or close contact with a new confirmed patient Isolation for all confirmed cases (F0) Disinfect the workplace of the newly detected patient Closure of workplace of the newly detected patient Isolation/quarantine for patients with respiratory symptoms (flu-like illness) Isolation/quarantine for suspected cases with negative RT-PCR (who had contact with confirmed patients or came from hotspots) Protection of hospitals at outpatient units Protection of healthcare workers Guidelines for each type of health worker to prevent crosstransmission Guidelines for performing aerosol generation Guidelines regarding reuse of masks/PPE for healthcare workers Guidelines on disposal of dead bodies Guidelines for home care Guidelines for community service (public transportation, food delivery, postal, volunteer services) Additional items:

Community-Based Measures to Against the COVID-19: An Experience From Vietnam With Consecutive 3 Months of no New Infection in the Community During the First Wave of Pandemic.

Vietnam has faced a high risk of transmission of COVID-19 during the pandemic. Despite the specific challenges that come with a low-resource country, the Vietnamese government has provided a sustainable response, demonstrating both great capacity and rapid decision-making to manage the entirety of the COVID-19 outbreak with lessons learned from the SARS and H1N1 epidemics in 2003 and 2009, respectively. A rapid response, specific epidemiological F0-F5 tracing system, and public education are some of the key measures that have helped Vietnam to control the outbreak. As of July 15, 2020, Vietnam has reported 373 accumulated confirmed cases and no deaths within the last 90 consecutive days of no new infections in the community. Vietnam can now consider declaring an end to the COVID-19 crisis on their part.

Study Protocol for a Global Survey: Awareness and Preparedness of Hospital Staff Against Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak.

Background: The outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by a novel coronavirus (named SARS-CoV-2) has gained attention globally and has been recognized as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to the rapidly increasing number of deaths and confirmed cases. Health care workers (HCWs) are vulnerable to this crisis as they are the first frontline to receive and manage COVID-19 patients. In this multicenter multinational survey, we aim to assess the level of awareness and preparedness of hospital staff regarding COVID-19 all over the world. Methods: From February to March 2020, the web-based or paper-based survey to gather information about the hospital staff's awareness and preparedness in the participants' countries will be carried out using a structured questionnaire based on the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) checklist and delivered to participants by the local collaborators for each hospital. As of March 2020, we recruited 374 hospitals from 58 countries that could adhere to this protocol as approved by their Institutional Review Boards (IRB) or Ethics Committees (EC). Discussion: The awareness and preparedness of HCWs against COVID-19 are of utmost importance not only to protect themselves from infection, but also to control the virus transmission in healthcare facilities and to manage the disease, especially in the context of manpower lacking and hospital overload during the pandemic. The results of this survey can be used to inform hospitals about the awareness and preparedness of their health staff regarding COVID-19, so appropriate policies and practice guidelines can be implemented to improve their capabilities of facing this crisis and other future pandemic-prone diseases.

Early centralized isolation strategy for all confirmed cases of COVID-19 remains a core intervention to disrupt the pandemic spreading significantly.

BACKGROUND: In response to the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), plenty of control measures were proposed. To assess the impact of current control measures on the number of new case indices 14 countries with the highest confirmed cases, highest mortality rate, and having a close relationship with the outbreak's origin; were selected and analyzed. METHODS: In the study, we analyzed the impact of five control measures, including centralized isolation of all confirmed cases, closure of schools, closure of public areas, closure of cities, and closure of borders of the 14 targeted countries according to their timing; by comparing its absolute effect average, its absolute effect cumulative, and its relative effect average. RESULTS: Our analysis determined that early centralized isolation of all confirmed cases was represented as a core intervention in significantly disrupting the pandemic's spread. This strategy helped in successfully controlling the early stage of the outbreak when the total number of cases were under 100, without the requirement of the closure of cities and public areas, which would impose a negative impact on the society and its economy. However, when the number of cases increased with the apparition of new clusters, coordination between centralized isolation and non-pharmaceutical interventions facilitated control of the crisis efficiently. CONCLUSION: Early centralized isolation of all confirmed cases should be implemented at the time of the first detected infectious case.

No new community COVID-19 infection in four consecutive weeks: what lesson can be learned from Vietnam.

Sharing a common land border with China, Vietnam has faced a high risk of transmission of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Rapid decision making and robust public health measures were established by the Vietnamese Government to control the situation. As of 17 May 2020, Vietnam reported 320 total confirmed cases of COVID-19, of whom 260 had fully recovered, while the remaining 60 cases were still under treatment. Noteworthy, the current data still confirms zero deaths and within the last 32 consecutive days prior to this submission, there have been no new infections in the country. Valuable lessons from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003 such as use of quarantine, early recognition and quick response to the infection, and increased awareness of its citizens have put Vietnam in a somewhat better position against COVID-19 compared to other places. Vietnam, at the current time, mulls declaring an end of the current COVID-19 outbreak.