Covid-19: preparedness, decentralisation, and the hunt for patient zero

Abstract

Lessons from the Italian outbreak

Social and behavioral health responses to COVID-19: lessons learned from four decades of an HIV pandemic

“…HIV emerged as a global threat to public health more than 40 years prior to COVID-19, and while the lack of public health preparedness for the current pandemic is well recognized (Carinci, 2020), social and behavioral scientists aiming to contribute to the containment and mitigation of COVID-19 will be well-served by the lessons we have learned in HIV prevention and treatment research. Preventing the worst care scenarios of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality can be achieved through intrapersonal, interpersonal, community, and societal levels of data-driven and well-coordinated interventions.…”

Reorganization of a large academic hospital to face COVID‐19 outbreak: The model of Parma, Emilia‐Romagna region, Italy

“…Tiziana Meschi 1,2 Sandra Rossi 3 Annalisa Volpi 3 F I G U R E 1 Algorithm of management and flows of suspect COVID-19 cases adopted in Parma University Hospital. The whole algorithm is superintended by a hospital COVID-19 crisis unit.…”

“…1 This situation represents a massive stress for the Italian healthcare system, forcing health authorities to take urgent measures to limit disease spread and potentiate territorial Emergency systems to intercept novel cases. 2,3 Public hospitals are subjected to overflow of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients rapidly saturating the bed capacity of Infectious Disease units and ICUs. 2,4 To face this challenge, Parma University Hospital, a 1200bed facility with a catchment area of >400 000 inhabitants around the city of Parma, Emilia-Romagna region, has implemented an algorithm, based on the current disease knowledge, 3 to manage the flow of suspected COVID-19 cases that are triaged at the Emergency Department (ED) ( Figure 1).…”

“…2,3 Public hospitals are subjected to overflow of SARS-CoV-2-infected patients rapidly saturating the bed capacity of Infectious Disease units and ICUs. 2,4 To face this challenge, Parma University Hospital, a 1200bed facility with a catchment area of >400 000 inhabitants around the city of Parma, Emilia-Romagna region, has implemented an algorithm, based on the current disease knowledge, 3 to manage the flow of suspected COVID-19 cases that are triaged at the Emergency Department (ED) ( Figure 1). A clinical bed manager, a skilled internist with long clinical expertise and managerial training, is in charge of coordinating the hospital COVID-19 crisis unit and managing patient flows.…”

COVID-19 outbreak in Italy: estimation of reproduction numbers over two months toward the Phase 2

“…After the first COVID-19 case was diagnosed in Lombardy, Italy, on February 20th, 2020, [1] the novel coronavirus rapidly spread across the country leading to a dramatic spike in the number of new positive cases and deaths. To minimize the likelihood that people who were not infected come into contact with people who had contracted the disease, the Italian government imposed a series of progressively more strict social distancing measures which culminated in a national lock-down announced on March 11th, 2020.…”