Table 4

Summary of studies presenting findings on testing and duration of quarantine related to VOC up to 11 May 2021

Author, year (country)Study designObjectiveData collectionSampleOutcome measureRelevant key findingQA
Testing
Abdel Sater et al24 2021
(Lebanon)		LaboratoryEvaluate a primer to confirm deletion mutations Δ69/Δ70 and Δ106/Δ107.9 December 2020 to 10 January 202120 samples from patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 confirmed through TaqPath kitSYBR Green-based RT-PCRThis primer could be used as a second step test in RT-PCR to confirm Alpha in COVID-19-positive S-gene-negative patients.N/A
Akingba et al27 2021
(South Africa)		LaboratoryEvaluate field performance of PanBio assay to detect Beta.17–20 November 2020677 patients from 6 mobile clinicsN/AThe assay reliably detected Beta infection in ambulatory ill patients. Sensitivity was >90% in patients with high viral loads.N/A
Quarantine
Yang et al59 2021 (Brazil)ModellingDevelop model to evaluate partial quarantine and further relaxation in São Paulo state, Brazil.26 February 2020 to 5 April 2021N/ACOVID cases and fatality curvesIn the presence of VOC, model predicts increased fatality, and cases of COVID to rise on relaxation of public health measures, as a result of VOC rather than lifting of measures.N/A
Wells et al54 2021 (USA)ModellingModel travel between European countries to identify travel quarantine and testing strategies that limit infections compared with complete border closure.N/AN/ALength of quarantine for origin-destination pairs of European countriesQuarantines for European destinations informed by country-specific prevalence, daily incidence, vaccine coverage, age demographics and travel flow. For Alpha, in countries with similar prevalence, quarantine and testing strategies are similar for wild-type transmission. In contrast, much greater variance between countries in the presence of Beta, meaning more extreme quarantine and testing measures needed to mitigate its impact.N/A

  • N/A, not available; QA, quality appraisal (low score <50%; medium score 50%–80%; high score >80%); VOC, variant of concern.