Expert lecture on COVID-19 epidemiology by QBRI

Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) recently pointed out the main findings that have emerged from a year of epidemiology research on COVID-19 in Qatar, which have informed the country’s response.

QBRI’s expert guest, Dr. Laith Abu-Raddad, professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q), and director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Disease Epidemiology Analytics, primarily talked on a series of epidemiological studies that have been carried out on the infection. The key findings were well evident that relates to the pandemic dynamics, exposure rates in the population, presence of reinfections, and infection severity among others.

Making note of the effectiveness in the usage of mathematical modeling was in forecasting hospitalization needs, quarantine and isolation, predicting the peak in Qatar, and the effective reproduction of the number Rt, Dr. Abu-Raddad said that the given data was well determining in making firm decisions like bringing down the restrictions.

For example, June 15 2020 was declared to be the starting date in easing restrictions by the model and it proved by turning out into a successful strategy since there were no second wave that came up for the next seven months.

Dr. Abu-Raddad also said that this science-based approach to comprehend the epidemiology and informing the national response minimized the toll of the infection and its disease burden, and prepared the country well to confront the pandemic.

The approach also facilitated functionality and stability for the economy and society and informed the global scientific understanding of the epidemiology of the infection. The webinar saw a lot of engagement from attendees, with many questions being directed to the guest speaker.

Commenting on the lecture, Dr. Hyung-Goo Kim, a Senior Scientist at QBRI and the moderator of the discussion, said: “We thank Dr. Laith Abu-Raddad for his contribution to our webinar. Understanding the factors that lie behind distribution of diseases and identifying their sources and causes is very important in fighting pandemics such as COVID-19. We are happy to continue inviting renowned guests to share experiences and accurate scientific data.”