Mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 transmission at a large public university.
Diana Rose E RanoaRobin L HollandFadi Ghassan AlnajiKelsie J GreenLeyi WangRichard L FredricksonTong WangGeorge N WongJohnny A UelmenSergei MaslovZachary J WeinerAlexei V TkachenkoHantao ZhangZhiru LiuAhmed IbrahimSanjay J PatelJohn M PaulNickolas P VanceJoseph G GulickSandeep Puthanveetil SatheesanIsaac J GalvanAndrew MillerJoseph GrohensTodd J NelsonMary P StevensP Mark HennessyRobert C ParkerEdward SantosCharles BrackettJulie D SteinmanMelvin R FennerKirstin DohrerMichael DeLorenzoLaura Wilhelm-BarrBrian R BrauerCatherine Best-PopescuGary DurackNathan C WetterDavid M KranzJessica BreitbarthCharlie SimpsonJulie A PrydeRobin N KalerChris HarrisAllison C VanceJodi L SilottoMark JohnsonEnrique Andres ValeraPatricia K AntonLowa MwilambweStephen P BryanDeborah S StoneDanita B YoungWanda E WardJohn LantzJohn A VozenilekRashid BashirJeffrey S MooreMayank GargJulian C CooperGillian E CookeMichelle H LoreDustin L YocumNeal J CohenJan E NovakofskiMelanie J LootsRandy L BallardMark BandKayla M BanksJoseph D BarnesIuliana BenteaJessica BlackJeremy BuschAbigail R ConteMadison ConteMichael CurryJennifer EardleyApril EdwardsTherese EggettJudes FleurimontDelaney FosterBruce W FoukeNicholas GallagherNicole GastalaScott A GenungDeclan GlueckBrittani GrayAndrew GretaRobert M HealyAshley HetrickArianna A HoltermanNahed IsmailIan JasenofPatrick KellyAaron KielbasaTeresa KieselLorenzo M KindleRhonda L LipkingYukari C ManabeJade MayesReubin McGuffinKenton G McHenryAgha MirzaJada MoseleyHeba H MostafaMelody MumfordKathleen MunozArika D MurrayMoira NolanNil A ParikhAndrew S PekoszJanna PflugmacherJanise M PhillipsCollin PittsMark C PotterJames QuisenberryJanelle RearMatthew L RobinsonEdith RosilloLeslie N RyeMaryEllen SherwoodAnna SimonJamie M SingsonCarly SkaddenTina H SkeltonCharlie SmithMary StechRyan ThomasMatthew A TomaszewskiErika A TyburskiScott VanwingerdenEvette VlachRonald S WatkinsKarriem WatsonKaren C WhiteTimothy L KilleenRobert J JonesAndreas C CangellarisSusan A MartinisAwais VaidChristopher B BrookeJoseph T WalshAhmed ElbannaWilliam C SullivanRebecca Lee SmithNigel GoldenfeldTimothy M FanPaul J HergenrotherMartin D BurkePublished in: Nature communications (2022)
In Fall 2020, universities saw extensive transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among their populations, threatening health of the university and surrounding communities, and viability of in-person instruction. Here we report a case study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where a multimodal "SHIELD: Target, Test, and Tell" program, with other non-pharmaceutical interventions, was employed to keep classrooms and laboratories open. The program included epidemiological modeling and surveillance, fast/frequent testing using a novel low-cost and scalable saliva-based RT-qPCR assay for SARS-CoV-2 that bypasses RNA extraction, called covidSHIELD, and digital tools for communication and compliance. In Fall 2020, we performed >1,000,000 covidSHIELD tests, positivity rates remained low, we had zero COVID-19-related hospitalizations or deaths amongst our university community, and mortality in the surrounding Champaign County was reduced more than 4-fold relative to expected. This case study shows that fast/frequent testing and other interventions mitigated transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at a large public university.