Detecting COVID-19 infection hotspots in England using large-scale self-reported data from a mobile application: a prospective, observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

As many countries seek to slow the spread of COVID-19 without reimposing national restrictions, it has become important to track the disease at a local level to identify areas in need of targeted intervention.

Methods

In this prospective, observational study, we did modelling using longitudinal, self-reported data from users of the COVID Symptom Study app in England between March 24, and Sept 29, 2020. Beginning on April 28, in England, the Department of Health and Social Care allocated RT-PCR tests for COVID-19 to app users who logged themselves as healthy at least once in 9 days and then reported any symptom. We calculated incidence of COVID-19 using the invited swab (RT-PCR) tests reported in the app, and we estimated prevalence using a symptom-based method (us

SUBMITTER: Varsavsky T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7785969 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature