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Modeling optimal reopening strategies for COVID-19 and its variants by keeping infections low and fixing testing capacity.
Dalton, Mackenzie; Dougall, Paul; Amoah Darko, Frederick Laud; Annan, William; Asante-Asamani, Emmanuel; Bailey, Susan; Greene, James; White, Diana.
  • Dalton M; Mathematics Department, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, United States of America.
  • Dougall P; Mathematics Department, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, United States of America.
  • Amoah Darko FL; Mathematics Department, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, United States of America.
  • Annan W; Mathematics Department, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, United States of America.
  • Asante-Asamani E; Mathematics Department, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, United States of America.
  • Bailey S; Biology Department, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, United States of America.
  • Greene J; Mathematics Department, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, United States of America.
  • White D; Mathematics Department, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY, United States of America.
PLoS One ; 17(11): e0274407, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2109309
ABSTRACT
Since early March 2020, government agencies have utilized a wide variety of non-pharmaceutical interventions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and have struggled to determine when it is appropriate to return to in-person activities after an outbreak is detected. At many universities, fundamental issues related to understanding the spread of the disease (e.g. the transmission rate), the ability of administrators to respond quickly enough by closing when there is a sudden rise in cases, and how to make a decision on when to reopen remains a concern. Surveillance testing strategies have been implemented in some places, and those test outcomes have dictated whether to reopen, to simultaneously monitor community spread, and/or to isolate discovered cases. However, the question remains as to when it is safe to reopen and how much testing is required to remain safely open while keeping infection numbers low. Here, we propose an extension of the classic SIR model to investigate reopening strategies for a fixed testing strategy, based on feedback from testing results. Specifically, we close when a predefined proportion of the population becomes infected, and later reopen when that infected proportion decreases below a predefined threshold. A valuable outcome of our approach is that our reopening strategies are robust to variation in almost all model parameters, including transmission rates, which can be extremely difficult to determine as they typically differ between variants, location, vaccination status, etc. Thus, these strategies can be, in theory, translated over to new variants in different regions of the world. Examples of robust feedback strategies for high disease transmission and a fixed testing capacity include (1) a single long lock down followed by a single long in-person period, and (2) multiple shorter lock downs followed by multiple shorter in-person periods. The utility of this approach of having multiple strategies is that administrators of universities, schools, business, etc. can use a strategy that is best adapted for their own functionality.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study Topics: Vaccines / Variants Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: PLoS One Journal subject: Science / Medicine Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Journal.pone.0274407

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: COVID-19 Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study Topics: Vaccines / Variants Limits: Humans Language: English Journal: PLoS One Journal subject: Science / Medicine Year: 2022 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: Journal.pone.0274407