Metrics details. This study presents the methods and results of the investigation into a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in a professional community.
Due to the limited testing capacity available in France at the time, we elaborated a testing strategy according to pre-test probability. We report the effective use of targeted testing according to pre-test probability, specifically prioritizing symptomatic COVID diagnosis and contact tracing. The asymptomatic rate raises questions about the real role of asymptomatic infected people in transmission.
The local lockdown imposed helped reduce transmission during the investigation period. Peer Review reports. SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus that emerged in in Wuhan China and spread rapidly to become a pandemic via airborne, droplet, and hand-to-hand transmission [ 1 ].
The first European cases were detected in France in January [ 4 ]. The French outbreak response included a three-stage strategy, with the first two stages being the early detection and isolation of every imported and then locally-acquired case, with rigorous contact tracing to contain local transmission. When the extent of the epidemic made the first two stages unmanageable, we moved on to the third stage, which focused strictly on the management of the most severe cases in healthcare facilities with an increase in hospital resources.
The third stage also included a national lockdown starting on March 17, to slow down the reproduction rate and the geographic progression of the virus [ 5 , 6 ]. After a remission stage, incidence has been significantly increasing in France and in other European countries, especially with the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants [ 7 ].
