COVID-19 epidemiological parameters summary document

In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group (IEMAG) for COVID-19 was established to assist the Irish National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) in their decision-making during the pandemic. A subcommittee from IEMAG (the epidemiological parameters team) was tasked with researching the various parameters, leading to the development of a series of synthesis documents relevant to the parameterisation of a COVID-19 transmission model for Ireland. These parameters include: • R0/R • Latent period & relative importance of pre-symptomatic period • Incubation period • Generation time & serial interval • Proportion of infected who are asymptomatic, by age • Length of infectious period in asymptomatic people and in symptomatic people who do not isolate • Time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis/test results and to hospitalisation • Length of hospital stay and admission to ICUs • Relative infectiousness of asymptomatic versus symptomatic infected people. The current document presents an up-to-date summary of these synthesis documents. A further synthesis document on age-related susceptibility and age-related infectiousness is in preparation.