Reopening Society and the Need for Real-Time Assessment of COVID-19 at the Community Level

Through May 13, 2020, approximately 1.39 million cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported in the United States (by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and more than 4.3 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported from 188 countries.¹ There is an urgent need for COVID-19 data, including community-level incidence, spectrum of disease, diagnostic test penetration, and proportion of the community with protective immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (herd immunity). These data are vital to understanding where communities are on the continuum of COVID-19 cumulative incidence and prevalence and how nonpharmaceutical interventions can be titrated to reopen business and society. Real-time incidence and seroepidemiologic data are also essential to plan scenarios for the development of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. Cross-sectional community surveys combined with seroepidemiology can help inform the present and help navigate the path forward.