Telemedicine and molecular Sars-CoV-2 early detection to face the COVID-19 pandemic

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought a series of challenges to the academic community. Social distancing measures imposed the interruption of face-to-face activities besides the implementation of remote work and online classes. For safe and gradual return, the monitoring of individuals, quick detection of infection, contact tracing, and isolation of those infected became essential. In this sense, we developed strategies to face the pandemic at the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) - Brazil. A Telemedicine Program (TeleCovid) and the assemblage of a laboratory for SARS-CoV-2 molecular diagnosis (LabCovid) were essential measures for monitoring, preventing, and controlling outbreaks at the university. TeleCovid works with a team of students who guide and answer questions regarding COVID-19 and, when necessary, make the referral for online consultation with medical professionals. In the suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the doctor refers the patient for testing at LabCovid. LabCovid performs the sample collection using nasal swabs, followed by processing samples by the RT-qPCR method. We have placed all positive patients in isolation and tested their contacts. This approach meant that positive cases were identified early, thus avoiding outbreaks in different environments in face-to-face activities.Keyword: Covid-19; university, RT-qPCR

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  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2021.09.29.21264314: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.


    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.


    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.


    About SciScore

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