A solution scan of societal options to reduce transmission and spread of respiratory viruses: SARS-CoV-2 as a case study
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Societal biosecurity – measures built into everyday society to minimize risks from pests and diseases – is an important aspect of managing epidemics and pandemics. We aimed to identify societal options for reducing the transmission and spread of respiratory viruses. We used SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) as a case study to meet the immediate need to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually transition to more normal societal conditions, and to catalog options for managing similar pandemics in the future. We used a ‘solution scanning’ approach. We read the literature; consulted psychology, public health, medical, and solution scanning experts; crowd-sourced options using social media; and collated comments on a preprint. Here, we present a list of 519 possible measures to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission and spread. We provide a long list of options for policymakers and businesses to consider when designing biosecurity plans to combat SARS-CoV-2 and similar pathogens in the future. We also developed an online application to help with this process. We encourage testing of actions, documentation of outcomes, revisions to the current list, and the addition of further options.
Date Issued
2021-12-01
Date Acceptance
2021-08-05
Citation
Journal of Biosafety and Biosecurity, 2021, 3 (2), pp.84-90
ISSN
2588-9338
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Start Page
84
End Page
90
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Biosafety and Biosecurity
Volume
3
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34541465
PII: S2588-9338(21)00029-7
Subjects
Biosecurity
COVID-19
Coronavirus
Disease control
New normal
Public health
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Netherlands
Date Publish Online
2021-09-15