COVID-19: Epidemiologic Trends, Public Health Challenges, and Evidence-Based Control Interventions

The ongoing Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is tremendously impacting the health of populations and health care systems, and dramatically changing the functionality of educational, social, political, and health institutions worldwide. Several studies have shown the existence of high-risk occupations and groups, as well as other factors associated with severe COVID-19, suggesting that appropriate measures should be taken to protect those at a high-risk of contracting the infection. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 is considered the leading strategy to reverse the course of the pandemic worldwide and studies have shown significant reduction in infection post-vaccination. However, the recent emergence of virulent SARS-CoV-2 variants has caused resurgence of the outbreak even in highly vaccinated cities, suggesting the necessity to adopt new policies and formulate novel strategies that consider recent scientific evidences. This will possibly lead to designing interventions that are scalable to improve the COVID-19 response and prevent disease spread. This Research Topic will include (but not limited to) papers related to the following topics:

• Epidemiology of COVID-19;

• Country-level and Regional COVID-19 Burden;

• Socioeconomic and Political Determinants of COVID-19;

• Comorbidities and Challenges related to COVID-19 Policies, Response and Control;

• Evidence-based Approach Interventions and Countermeasures for COVID-19.