Lockdown Contained the Spread of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease in Huangshi City, China: Early Epidemiological Findings

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p>To control the spread of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), China sealed Wuhan on 23 January 2020 and soon expanded lockdown to 12 other cities in Hubei province. We aimed to describe the epidemiological characteristics in one of the cities and highlight the effect of current implemented lockdown and nonpharmaceutical interventions.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>We retrieved data of reported cases in Huangshi and Wuhan from publicly available disease databases. Local epidemiological data on suspected or confirmed cases in Huangshi were collected through field investigation. Epidemic curves were constructed with data on reported and observed cases.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>The accumulated confirmed COVID-19 cases and fatality in Huangshi were reported to be 1015 and 3.74%, respectively, compared with 50006 and 5.08% in Wuhan until 27 March 2020. Right after 24 January, the epidemic curve based on observed cases in Huangshi became flattened. And 1 February 2020 was identified as the “turning point” as the epidemic in Huangshi faded soon afterward. COVID-19 epidemic was characterized by mild cases in Huangshi, accounting for 82.66% of total cases. Moreover, 50 asymptomatic infections were identified in adults and children. In addition, we found confirmed cases in 19 familial clusters and 21 healthcare workers, supporting interhuman transmission.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title> <jats:p>Our study reported the temporal dynamics and characteristics of the COVID-19 epidemic in Huangshi city, China, across the unprecedented intervention. Such new epidemiological inference might provide further guidance on current lockdown measures in high-risk cities and, subsequently, help improve public health intervention strategies against the pandemic on the country and global levels.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

Impact of small-area lockdowns for the control of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…However, experiences on Spanish flu in 1918 showed different trends in the epidemic morbimortality according to the strictness of the social distancing measures implemented, with better results for cities with earlier and more restrictive interventions (26). While some countries are starting to bring their epidemic outbreaks under control, evidence on the effectiveness of current lockdowns is only now starting to come into focus (5,(27)(28)(29). In Wuhan, China, the growth rate of the cases decreased after the implementation of a large-scale lockdown which included travel restrictions, quarantine and social distancing measures like closing of schools (27,30).…”

“…While some countries are starting to bring their epidemic outbreaks under control, evidence on the effectiveness of current lockdowns is only now starting to come into focus (5,(27)(28)(29). In Wuhan, China, the growth rate of the cases decreased after the implementation of a large-scale lockdown which included travel restrictions, quarantine and social distancing measures like closing of schools (27,30). In Huangshi the epidemic curve became flattened 9 days after a lockdown was implemented (27).…”

SARS-CoV-2 spike D614G variant exhibits highly efficient replication and transmission in hamsters

“…SARS-CoV-2 was first identified in China in December 2019 (Wu et al, 2020;Zhou et al, 2020a). A response adopting aggressive control measures, including the lock down of a city of 10 million people (Wuhan) and the wider Hubei Province (population: 56 million) in January 2020, significantly limited the further dissemination of the virus within China (Ji et al, 2020;Lau et al, 2020a). SARS-CoV-2 has been efficiently transmitting among humans since it was first recognized, according to studies from the early outbreak (Chan et al, 2020a;Liu et al, 2020).…”

A panel analysis on preventing and controlling efficiency of COVID-19 pandemic

“…Without validated drugs [2], successful strategies for COVID-19 from China such as wartime control measures [3], active surveillance, contact tracing, quarantine, and social distancing [4], enhanced traffic control bundling [5], and outbreak city shutdown [6]result in dramatic reductions in number of daily newly confirmed cases and deaths. Under the condition of inter-human transmission and lockdown measures, the temporal dynamics and characteristics of the COVID-19 epidemic in a high-risk city were reported in China [7]. In order to reduce morbidity and mortality, several medical decision-making tools have the potential to be a major breakthrough in efforts to control the current pandemic [8][9][10].…”