Epidemiology in the time of COVID-19

Abstract

My placement was with the Office of Health Protection and Response (OHPR) at the Australian Government Department of Health. During this time, I also had the opportunity to work at the Northern Territory Centre for Disease Control (CDC). The placements and experiences allowed me to apply the skills of the epidemiology of infectious diseases I acquired through the program. This thesis details projects undertaken at the field placements to fulfil the core requirements of the Master of Philosophy (Applied Epidemiology) program . The projects comprise a epidemiological study into in-flight transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on Australian repatriation flights from India into Darwin, a multi-jurisdictional outbreak investigation into COVID-19 among returned attendees of a wedding in Bali, Indonesia, the establishment of a surveillance network for COVID-19 outbreaks, and an analysis of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and public health interventions on salmonellosis in Australia during 2020. In this thesis, I also describe other public health experiences I gained during the MAE program, including my role in teaching, responsibilities as part of the epidemiology and surveillance team assisting the national COVID-19 response, and analysis of arboviral disease trends with a focus on Bamah Forest Virus infection. Show more