COVID-19 summaries of recent evidence

The Public Health Agency of Canada continually reviews the rapidly emerging evidence on COVID-19 to facilitate integration of the most current high quality information into our decision-making, guidance and recommendations.

To help decision makers respond to COVID-19, we produce rapid technical reviews that identify, categorize and briefly summarize the scientific literature to answer priority questions about COVID-19. These evidence reviews are identified below.

Web accessible versions of the reviews are being developed and will be available below as they are completed.

To request a copy of a review not yet available online, email us at ocsoevidence-bcscdonneesprobantes@phac-aspc.gc.ca.

Additional evidence from public health partners we coordinate with can be found online at the National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools (NCCMT), and the COVID-19 Evidence Network to support Decision-making (COVID-END).

SARS-CoV-2 transmission

• February 16, 2022: Living profile of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of concern
• November 25, 2021: Evidence brief on the risk of COVID-19 transmission in flight, update 3
• November 19, 2021: Evidence on the virulence, transmission and impact of B.1.617.2 (Delta) among children, update 2
• October 8, 2021: Evidence on the virulence, transmission and impact of B.1.617.2 (Delta) among children, update 1
• September 15, 2021: Living summary of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) profile
• August 17, 2021: Evidence brief of SARS-CoV-2 incubation periods
• August 10, 2021: Living summary of SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest: The Lambda variant (C.37) profile
• July 1, 2021: Living summary of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: The Gamma variant (P.1) profile
• July 1, 2021: Living summary of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: The Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) profile
• July 1, 2021: Living summary of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern: The Beta variant (B.1.351) profile
• March 31, 2021: Evidence brief on viral load and the likelihood of transmission during the infectious period of SARS-CoV-2
• March 26, 2021: Evidence brief on SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and transmission in children
• March 12, 2021: Evidence brief on SARS-CoV-2 aerosol transmission, update 2
• February 17, 2021: Evidence brief of COVID-19 infectious period in immunosuppressed/ immunocompromised individuals
• February 12, 2021: Evidence brief of SARS-CoV-2 in arenas
• January 26, 2021: Evidence brief of maximum incubation period
• September 11, 2020: Rapid review of infectious period
• August 25, 2020: Evidence brief on the rsk of COVID-19 outbreaks in the workplace, Update
• August 20, 2020: Evidence brief on the risk of COVID-19 and non-professional sports
• August 18, 2020: Evidence brief of size of gatherings and characteristics of high risk transmission events
• August 14, 2020: COVID-19 summary of heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) systems and transmission of SARS-CoV-2
• July 22, 2020: Evidence brief on age-dependent transmission
• July 5, 2020: COVID-19 summary of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and singing/wind instruments
• June 24, 2020: Evidence brief on SARS-CoV-2 virus dispersion distance
• June 22, 2020: Evidence brief on the infection risk from eye exposures to inform contact and droplet precautions
• June 4, 2020: Evidence brief on infectiousness and symptom onset

Public health interventions

• July 7, 2022: Evidence brief on the associations and safety of COVID-19 vaccination and post COVID-19 condition, update 2
• April 1, 2022: Evidence brief on attitudes and acceptance of COVID-19 booster doses, update 1
• March 18, 2022: Evidence on the effectiveness and safety of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation technologies in reducing SARS-CoV-2 in the air of occupied rooms
• January 31, 2022: Evidence brief on attitudes and acceptance of COVID-19 booster doses
• Archived 1: January 13, 2022: Evidence brief on the associations and safety of COVID-19 vaccination and post COVID-19 condition
• December 10, 2021: Evidence brief on parental and adolescent acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 1 to 17
• October 18, 2021: Evergreen rapid review on COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and uptake in Canada, update 11
• July 14, 2021: Evergreen rapid review on COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and uptake, update 8
• May 4, 2021: Rapid review on the impact of school closures and re-openings on COVID-19 transmission
• February 10, 2021: Evidence brief of SARS-CoV-2 contact tracing
• January 20, 2021: Evidence brief on adherence to isolation and quarantine
• January 5, 2021: Rapid review on the characteristics of effective non-medical face masks in reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission
• December 3, 2020: Evidence brief on quarantine length reduction strategies and effectiveness, update 1
• December 2, 2020: Rapid review on the physiological effects of wearing face masks
• December 1, 2020: Evidence brief on the use of face masks to prevent COVID-19 in community settings
• July 23, 2020: Evidence brief on the determinants to individual adherence to public health interventions for COVID-19
• July 7, 2020: COVID-19 summary of face shields to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2
• June 19, 2020: Evidence brief of de-escalation of social bubbles

Infection prevention and control

• October 8, 2020: Evidence brief of potential health risks of hard-surface disinfectants in environments shared by school-aged children
• June 11, 2020: Evidence brief of aerosol generating procedures in dental care settings

Clinical epidemiology

• July 26, 2022: Evidence brief on protective immunity post Omicron
• October 22, 2021: Rapid review on protective immunity post COVID-19 vaccination, update 3
• October 22, 2021: Rapid review on protective immunity post infection with SARS-CoV-2, update 3
• June 23, 2021: Evidence brief of Ivermectin
• May 27, 2021: Rapid review of Vitamin D supplementation for therapeutic use on COVID-19 cases
• January 28, 2021: Rapid review of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)
• November 13, 2020: Evidence on the clinical and epidemiological features of MIS-A associated with SARS-CoV-2 Infection
• September 22, 2020: Evidence brief on ethnicity and COVID-19-Update
• September 9, 2020: Evidence Brief on SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in patients that retest RT-PCR positive
• August 20, 2020: Rapid Review of COVID-19 hospitalizations and length of stay
• July 17, 2020: Evidence brief of pregnancy and severity of COVID-19