UNDERSTANDING the EPIDEMIOLOGY of COVID-19: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT

This keynote talk will provide an overview of the global epidemiology of COVID-19, mainly focusing on disparities in transmission, severity, and outcomes. It will also summarise the challenging and often misinterpreted but consequential epidemiological aspects such as asymptomatic transmission, changes in the severity of disease and transmissibility of variants, and the role of children in transmission dynamics, focusing on better ways to evaluate these areas going forward. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its myriad uncertainties, well-publicised retractions, shifting recommendations and over 300 thousand publications, has underscored the importance of carefully synthesising and translating the vast amount of data into evidence-based and actionable insights.