Effective control of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Wanzhou, China

• Published in: Nature medicine Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 86 - 93
• Main Authors: Shi, Qiuling, Hu, Yaoyue, Peng, Bin, Tang, Xiao-Jun, Wang, Wei, Su, Kun, Luo, Chao, Wu, Bo, Zhang, Fan, Zhang, Yong, Anderson, Benjamin, Zhong, Xiao-Ni, Qiu, Jing-Fu, Yang, Cheng Yong, Huang, Ai-Long
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.01.2021; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/308/174; 692/499; 692/699/255; Adult; Asymptomatic; Basic Reproduction Number; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cancer Research; Carrier State; Child; China - epidemiology; Communicable Disease Control; Confidence intervals; Contact; Contact Tracing; Coronaviridae; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 - transmission; Disease control; Disease transmission; Epidemiology; Female; Health risks; Humans; Infection control; Infectious Diseases; Male; Metabolic Diseases; Methods; Middle Aged; Molecular Medicine; Neurosciences; Respiratory diseases; Risk analysis; Risk factors; SARS-CoV-2 - physiology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Ultrasonic testing; Viral diseases; China
• ISSN: 1078-8956; 1546-170X
• DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-01178-5

The effectiveness of control measures to contain coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wanzhou, China was assessed. Epidemiological data were analyzed for 183 confirmed COVID-19 cases and their close contacts from five generations of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 throughout the entire COVID-19 outbreak in Wanzhou. Approximately 67.2% and 32.8% of cases were symptomatic and asymptomatic, respectively. Asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission accounted for 75.9% of the total recorded transmission. The reproductive number was 1.64 (95% confidence interval: 1.16–2.40) for G1-to-G2 transmission, decreasing to 0.31–0.39 in later generations, concomitant with implementation of rigorous control measures. Substantially higher infection risk was associated with contact within 5 d after the infectors had been infected, frequent contact and ≥8 h of contact duration. The spread of COVID-19 was effectively controlled in Wanzhou by breaking the transmission chain through social distancing, extensive contact tracing, mass testing and strict quarantine of close contacts. Analysis of five generations of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 from cases to contacts identifies a high rate of symptomless transmission and risk factors associated with spread of COVID-19.