Nationwide Descriptive Epidemiological Study of Patients with COVID-19 Evacuated from Wuhan, China to Japan from January to February, 2020

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases Vol. 76; no. 1; pp. 20 - 26
• Main Authors: Nomoto, Hidetoshi, Ishikane, Masahiro, Gu, Yoshiaki, Yamamuro, Ryosuke, Osawa, Ryosuke, Hosokawa, Naoto, Sahara, Toshinori, Nakamura-Uchiyama, Fukumi, Fukushima, Kazuaki, Sekiya, Noritaka, Imamura, Akifumi, Fujikura, Yuji, Kawana, Akihiko, Nagata, Kaoru, Tamura, Kaku, Kutsuna, Satoshi, Ohmagari, Norio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan National Institute of Infectious Diseases 31.01.2023; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: China - epidemiology; Communicable Disease Control; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Disease control; Epidemiologic Studies; epidemiological features; Epidemiology; evacuation; Hotels; Humans; Hygiene; Infections; Japan - epidemiology; Japanese; SARS-CoV-2; Seafood; Signs and symptoms; Viral diseases; Wuhan China; Japan; China; Wuhan China; COVID-19; evacuation; epidemiological features; Wuhan China; Japanese
• DOI: 10.7883/yoken.JJID.2022.049
• ISSN: 1344-6304; 1884-2836

We investigated the epidemiological findings regarding the route of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and infection prevention and control (IPC) measures among returnees in the emergency evacuation from Wuhan, China to Japan during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. A total of 12 of the 14 returnees (median age [range]: 49.5 years [29–65 years]; 9 men [75%]) had confirmed COVID-19. The proportion of returnees with COVID-19 was 12/566 (2.1%) in Flights 1–3 and 2/263 (0.8%) in Flights 4 and 5. Six patients were asymptomatic on admission, while 3 patients developed symptoms thereafter. None of the participants reported a specific history of contact with animals, going to seafood markets, or visiting medical facilities. Two patients were in contact with an individual who was confirmed or suspected of having COVID-19. Most patients resided in hotels in the center of Wuhan City, taking taxis and trains for commute. Patients relatively adhered to IPC measures such as wearing a mask and hand hygiene. However, emphasis on IPC measures such as universal masking and more rigorous avoidance of exposure risk might have been necessary to prevent infection. In addition, forced social distancing due to lockdown might have contributed to the lower infection rates in Flights 4 and 5, compared to Flights 1–3.