Author, year (country) | Study design | Objective | Data collection | Sample | Outcome measure | Relevant key finding | QA |
Testing | |||||||
Abdel Sater et al24 2021 (Lebanon) | Laboratory | Evaluate a primer to confirm deletion mutations Δ69/Δ70 and Δ106/Δ107. | 9 December 2020 to 10 January 2021 | 20 samples from patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 confirmed through TaqPath kit | SYBR Green-based RT-PCR | This 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) | Laboratory | Evaluate field performance of PanBio assay to detect Beta. | 17–20 November 2020 | 677 patients from 6 mobile clinics | N/A | The 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) | Modelling | Develop model to evaluate partial quarantine and further relaxation in São Paulo state, Brazil. | 26 February 2020 to 5 April 2021 | N/A | COVID cases and fatality curves | In 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) | Modelling | Model travel between European countries to identify travel quarantine and testing strategies that limit infections compared with complete border closure. | N/A | N/A | Length of quarantine for origin-destination pairs of European countries | Quarantines 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.