Project Background 

The clinical health outcomes for COronaVIrus Disease 19 (COVID-19) range from asymptomatic or mild illness to severe disease that may lead to hospitalization, intensive care, or worse, death. However, the mechanisms for differing clinical health outcomes within a population have not been well-characterized. In addition, the differences in risks of being infected with COVID-19, spreading of the virus that causes COVID-19, and subsequent severe health outcomes among those infected with COVID-19 may also differ based on individual-level factors (e.g. age, gender, sex, comorbidities, experience of homelessness) and neighborhood-level factors (population/housing density, socio-economic factors, physical networks, and uptake of interventions). 

Objectives 

Leveraging on the BCC19C data, this project aims to:  

1. Identify the individual and neighbourhood-level  factors in the relative risk of COVID-19 testing, diagnosis, and severity 
2. Estimate the relative contribution of these individual and neighbourhood-level differences in onward transmission over time 
3. Assess the potential impact of past and existing public health measures on transmission, detected cases, hospitalizations, and deaths 
4. Determine the differential impact of feasible, population-specific, non-pharmacological interventions to mitigate spread and prevent re-emergence at different levels of relaxation of universal physical distancing measures.  

Publications

• Mental Health and Substance Use Associated with Hospitalization among People with COVID-19: A Population-Based Cohort Study. 
• Geographic concentration of SARS-CoV-2 cases by social determinants of health in metropolitan areas in Canada: a cross-sectional study

Funded by: Canadian Institutes for Health Research  

Principal Investigator: Dr. Naveed Janjua 

Collaborators: Dr. Sharmistha Mishra, Dr. Jeff Kwong, Dr. Beate Sander