RIVM preprint 👇
The estimated disease burden of acute COVID-19 in the Netherlands in 2020, in disability-adjusted life-years.
(under peer-review, below are some highlights)
#epitwitter #covid19nl #rivm
assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-10267… Study objectives were to quantify the total disease burden of acute COVID-19 in the Netherlands in 2020 using the disability-adjusted life-years (DALY) measure, and to investigate how disease burden varies between age-groups and occupation categories.

thelancet.com/journals/lance…
SARS-CoV-2 elimination, not mitigation, creates best outcomes for health, the economy, and civil liberties. Public health, economic growth, democratic solidarity, and civil liberties are important factors when evaluating pandemic responses. There is mounting evidence that these objectives do not need to be in conflict in the COVID-19 response.

Scientific consensus on the #COVID19 pandemic: we need to act now.
One look at the authors list, and you'll see thought leaders in their fields; working diligently and with scientific evidence to make a difference.
"Just facts" in here, nothing else.
thelancet.com/lancet/article… The #herdimmunity approach is a dangerous fallacy unsupported by the scientific evidence

https://twitter.com/TheLancet/status/1316507074415779840

Het had niet zo ver hoeven komen – en het kan zo niet verder.
A point which a lot of us have been hammering (pun intended) in for months now.

nrc.nl/nieuws/2020/10… We have technical resources, we have scientific expertise, we have diversity in our experiences- @rivm and #OMT should consider using all the help they can.
@C19RedTeam has offered their cross-functional expertise. A pandemic isn't just a medical issue, it is a societal issue.

Have we misjudged the role of children in spreading #COVID19?
COVID19 research in to kid, especially younger ones, is not perfect. It has gaps, it is evolving and we are learning more by the day.
A short summary of evolving role of children 👇
cmaj.ca/content/192/38… Statement from Ontario’s science advisory table:

- Kids may play a bigger role in the spread of #SARSCoV2 than initially suspected.

- Early suggestions that children are considerably less important drivers of transmission are not confirmed by more recent research.

@IHME_UW (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation) and @UWMedicine (University of Washington’s School of Medicine), no lightweights, have come out with
global projections of #COVID19 by nation.
Short summary 👇

healthdata.org/news-release/f… They modelled 3 scenarios:
1. Worse case:
- mask usage stays at current rates, and,
- governments continue relaxing social distancing requirements.
This leads to 4.0 million total deaths by the end of the year.

Huge respect for Aura but some of her responses are contentious. I thank her for the work that she and her team are doing in this ever developing #covid19 pandemic. But one didn't need to understand #coronavirus to implement certain rules.
volkskrant.nl/ts-b73f5cef Question: Maar anderzijds had u ook best kunnen adviseren: bescherm jezelf nou maar, voor de zekerheid.

Aura: Zeker. Maar dat is met de kennis van nu. Wat we in maart, april dachten te weten over het virus is achterhaald door de snelheid waarmee het zich bleek te verspreiden.

A descriptive analysis of existing literature presented a #SARSCoV2 risk-chart from asymptomatic people in different settings and for different occupation times.
Lead authors (@trishgreenhalgh) noted that this is an indicative table; and not quantitative or predictive. Great overview of occupancy (indoors/outdoors), ventilation (well/poorly), type and level of group activity (silent, speaking, shouting), time duration and face coverings --> and risk of #SARSCoV2 transmission.
Variation in susceptibility, viral shedding rates were not looked at.

Debate (#NL) over face covering or not. On #RIVM/#OMT's advice, @MinPres and @hugodejonge from @MinVWS have unequivocally told us that there is little conclusive evidence (agree) and masks do not work (do not agree).
Great @bmj_latest article, a summary:
bmj.com/content/370/bm… Face masks have been framed largely as a medical intervention.
Many countries/agencies now mandate/recommend masks against #covid19.
Narrative of face masks as a medical intervention ignores the social practice of this act, and the behaviours associated with it.

So who is surprised? Rhetorical question. (Mini thread)
Researchers analysed differing policy responses and total #Covid19 cases and deaths until 19 May A number of variables were used to help analyse the raw data and draw reliable country comparisons.
theguardian.com/world/2020/aug… Datasets/variables considered were GDP, total population, population density and proportion of elderly residents, as well as annual health spending per head, openness to international travel and level of gender equality in society in general.

Been meaning to write a thread about this pre-print (literature review, opinion piece) on #COVID19, children and #schools. (Very likely I am replicating somebody's efforts already). A lot of it in there made sense to a lay-person like me so here it is:
mja.com.au/journal/2020/c… Are children less susceptible to infection? Research is ongoing and no definitive evidence either way yet.
From 61K people in #Spain, 3.4% of children and teenagers had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 (point-of-care test) vs 4.4-6.0% of adults.

1. Isn't there enough evidence to suggest non medical masks (in combination with social distancing) would have an added value?
2. Isn't there evidence to show wearing a mask gets people to increase social distancing? (As opposed to now when people aren't distancing enough?) 👇 3. Majority of infections are coming from household and social settings (driven by younger demographic) per @rivm #RIVM. That's an argument to not recommended masks in public setting? If yes, the rationale behind masks in OV (when OV was running on a 40% capacity) was? 👇