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Review
. 2020 May 19:8:205.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00205. eCollection 2020.

COVID19: A Systematic Approach to Early Identification and Healthcare Worker Protection

Yu Zhao  1 , Chong Cui  1 , Kun Zhang  1 , Jialin Liu  2 , Jinfu Xu  3 , Eric Nisenbaum  4 , Yixiang Huang  5 , Guoyou Qin  6 , Bing Chen  1 , Michael Hoffer  4   7 , Susan H Blanton  4   8 , Fred Telischi  4   7 , Joshua M Hare  8 , Sylvia Daunert  9 , Bhavarth Shukla  10 , Savita G Pahwa  10 , Dushyantha T Jayaweera  10 , Paul E Farmer  11   12   13 , Carlos Del Rio  14 , Xuezhong Liu  4   8 , Yilai Shu  1
Affiliations
Review

COVID19: A Systematic Approach to Early Identification and Healthcare Worker Protection

Yu Zhao et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak spread rapidly throughout the globe, with worldwide infections and deaths continuing to increase dramatically. To control disease spread and protect healthcare workers, accurate information is necessary. We searched PubMed and Google Scholar for studies published from December 2019 to March 31, 2020 with the terms "COVID-19," "2019-nCoV," "SARS-CoV-2," or "Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia." The main symptoms of COVID-19 are fever (83-98.6%), cough (59.4-82%), and fatigue (38.1-69.6%). However, only 43.8% of patients have fever early in the disease course, despite still being infectious. These patients may present to clinics lacking proper precautions, leading to nosocomial transmission, and infection of workers. Potential COVID-19 cases must be identified early to initiate proper triage and distinguish them quickly from similar infections. Early identification, accurate triage, and standardized personal protection protocols can reduce the risk of cross infection. Containing disease spread will require protecting healthcare workers.

Keywords: COVID 2019; COVID-19; Coronavirus (CoV); SARS—CoV-2; healthcare worker protection.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Global epidemiology of COVID-19 cases. (A) Cumulative confirmed cases. (B) Cases-fatality rate. The case-fatality rate: globally 4.85%, China 4.01%, Outside of China 4.95%, Hubei Province 4.71%, Outside of Hubei province in China 0.86%. All the data comes from the WHO Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report (Data as reported by national authorities by March 31, 2020), except the data in (B), Hubei Province and Outside of Hubei Province in China, which comes from the latest development of the COVID-19 epidemic: General Office of the National Health Council, China.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The 10 non-China countries with the most reported cases as of April 1, 2020. All the data comes from Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by Johns Hopkins CSSE (https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic diagram of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Red arrows indicate most common transmission; Orange arrows indicate possible routes of transmission.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Suggested strategy of outpatient and emergency triage flow chart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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