Open AccessA Second Wave? What Do People Mean by COVID Waves? – A Working Definition of Epidemic Waves
Author(s) -
Stephen X. Zhang,
Francisco Arroyo Marioli,
Renfei Gao,
Senhu Wang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
risk management and healthcare policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.828
H-Index - 22
ISSN - 1179-1594
DOI - 10.2147/rmhp.s326051
Subject(s) - covid-19 , virology , pandemic , medicine , outbreak , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Policymakers and researchers describe the COVID-19 epidemics by waves without a common vocabulary on what constitutes an epidemic wave, either in terms of a working definition or operationalization, causing inconsistencies and confusions. A working definition and operationalization can be helpful to characterize and communicate about epidemics.