RESUMO
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a World Health Organization designated pandemic that can result in severe symptoms and death that disproportionately affects older patients or those with comorbidities. Kuwait reported its first imported cases of COVID-19 on February 24, 2020. Analysis of data from the first three months of community transmission of the COVID-19 outbreak in Kuwait can provide important guidance for decision-making when dealing with future SARS-CoV-2 epidemic wave management. The analysis of intervention scenarios can help to evaluate the possible impacts of various outbreak control measures going forward which aim to reduce the effective reproduction number during the initial outbreak wave. Herein we use a modified susceptible-exposed-asymptomatic-infectious-removed (SEAIR) transmission model to estimate the outbreak dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Kuwait. We fit case data from the first 96 days in the model to estimate the basic reproduction number and used Google mobility data to refine community contact matrices. The SEAIR modelled scenarios allow for the analysis of various interventions to determine their effectiveness. The model can help inform future pandemic wave management, not only in Kuwait but for other countries as well.
RESUMO
The global COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS CoV-2 is causing both mortality/morbidity and collateral social and economic damage related to public panic and aggressive public policy measures to contain the disease worldwide.(1) The epidemic appears to have taken hold much more slowly in sub-Saharan Africa than most of the world.(2) Antibody testing to evaluate the population proportion previously infected with SARS CoV-2 has the potential to guide public policy, but has not been reported so far for sub-Saharan Africa.
