Major Article
Characteristics of COVID-19 near China's epidemic center

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2020.06.191Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Confirmed cases of COVID-19 near the center of China's outbreak were examined.

  • Confirmed cases peaked at about two weeks and then gradually decreased.

  • Main sources of infection were Hubei exposure and contact with confirmed cases.

  • Results suggest that measures taken to control the rate of infection were effective.

  • Prevention and control efforts should be implemented as quickly as possible.

Background

This study described and analyzed the age, gender, infection sources, and timing characteristics of the 416 confirmed cases in two cities near the center of China's COVID-19 outbreak.

Methods

This study used publicly available data to examine gender, age, source of infection, date returned from Hubei, date of disease onset, date of first medical visit, date of final diagnosis, and date of recovery of COVID-19 cases.

Results

Public-use data revealed similar risks of infection by age and that the numbers of new and final diagnoses of confirmed cases first increased, peaked at about 2 weeks, and then gradually decreased. The main sources of infection were firsthand or secondhand exposure in Hubei Province and contact with confirmed cases, which mostly involved contact with infected household members. The mean periods from disease onset to first medical visit, first visit to final diagnosis, and final diagnosis to recovery were 4.44, 3.18, and 13.42 days, respectively.

Conclusions

The results suggest that the measures taken to control the rate of infection were effective. Prevention and control efforts should respond as quickly as possible, isolate and control activities of individuals leaving infected areas, and restrict household contact transmission.

Key Words

Infectious diseases
Epidemiological characteristics
Labor exporting city

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Conflicts of interest: None to report.

FUNDING: This publication was funded by the Shanghai 3-Year Action Plan for Public Health System Construction (SCREENING STUDY GWIV-18). The funder had no role in the study's design, data collection, analysis, the decision to publish, or the preparation of the manuscript.

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