COVID-19 Health Evidence Summary No.1

Abstract

This weekly COVID-19 Health Evidence Summary (HES) is to signpost DFID and other UK government departments to the latest relevant evidence and discourse on COVID-19 to inform and support their response. The first HES was produced on 9th March 2020. Each summary is a result of half-a-day of work and is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of evidence. This summary covers ten reading materials including an interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time, how country-based mitigation measures will influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic, the gendered impacts of the outbreak, the species Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus, feasibility of controlling COVID-19 outbreak by isolation of cases and contacts, Persistence of coronavirus on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents, UK government’s action plan, WHO reports on China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and WHO technical interim guidance on critical preparedness, readiness and response actions for COVID19. The second section covers five resource hubs from WHO, the Lancet, Elsevier, Cell Press and the BMJ.