COVID-19 Border Restriction Reduced Dengue Transmission

Abstract

Background: Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, China implemented strict border restrictions to prevent disease importation. Yunnan, a province of China that shares borders with dengue-endemic countries in Southeast Asia, experienced unprecedented reduction in dengue from 6840 cases in 2019 to 260 cases in 2020. Methods: By using a unique epidemiological and genomic dataset from 2013 to 2020 collected in Yunnan, we reconstruct the dynamics of DENV transboundary transmission and investigate the impact of border restriction on dengue expansion. Findings: Dengue transmission in Yunnan was strongly correlated with historical cases in border countries with a 2-3 months lag ( r = 0.58, P Interpretation: The study reveals that surveillance and management of human movement, particularly of travelers returning from high-risk areas could be an effective method to prevent dengue spread, provided other negative impacts of movement restrictions can be minimized.Funding Statement: Funding for this study was provided by Beijing Science and Technology Planning Project (Z201100005420010); Beijing Natural Science Foundation (JQ18025); Beijing Advanced Innovation Program for Land Surface Science; National Natural Science Foundation of China (82073616); Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program by CAST (YESS) (2018QNRC001); H.T. and M.U.G.K. acknowledge support from the Oxford Martin School.Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.