Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

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Resource Guide for 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19), and the COVID Pandemic

Last updated: January 27, 2022

Introduction

This guide presents information resources on the scientific and social aspects of the pandemic. This resource is intended for research purposes only. For personal health questions and concerns, please visit Health Canada or the Region of Waterloo.

Naming, Usage, and Dates

  • Official disease name: coronovirus disease (COVID-19) (Feb. 11, 2020)
  • Virus that causes the disease: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
  • Previously known as the "2019 novel coronavirus"
  • Global pandemic declared on March 11, 2020
  • World Health Organization (n.d). "Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it".
  • World Health Organization (April 27, 2020). "WHO Timeline - COVID-19."
  • Preferred usage: all capitalized: COVID-19; however, some news sources only capitalize what you say as a word and will use Covid-19.

New PubMed MeSH term for January 2021 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh?Db=mesh&Cmd=DetailsSearch&Term=%22Coro...

PubMed Search String

((wuhan[tw] AND (coronavirus[tw] OR corona virus[tw])) OR nCov[tw] OR 2019 ncov[tw] OR novel coronavirus[tw] OR novel corona virus[tw] OR covid-19[tw] OR SARS-COV-2[tw] OR Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2[tw] OR coronavirus disease 2019[tw] OR corona virus disease 2019[tw] OR new coronavirus[tw] OR new corona virus[tw] OR new coronaviruses[all] OR novel coronaviruses[all] OR "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2"[nm] OR 2019 ncov[tw] OR nCov 2019[tw] OR SARS Coronavirus 2[all])

New MeSH Supplementary Heading
Google Search String

2019nCoV|"2019 nCoV|CoV|coronavirus"|"2019 novel|new coronavirus|cov"|"wuhan coronavirus|cov|ncov|outbreak"|"wuhan*coronavirus|cov|ncov|outbreak"|"wuhan**coronavirus|cov|ncov|outbreak"|"coronavirus|cov|ncov*wuhan"

DisasterLit

(coronavirus AND novel)

CADTH Search Strings

  • The following is a sample of search strings for topics related to COVID-19. These strings have been developed and peer-reviewed by Research Information Specialists at CADTH. However, they have not been validated against a gold standard set of articles. Note, too, that the vocabulary and subject headings surrounding these topics are continuously changing. Individuals using these strings are therefore responsible for ensuring they are accurate, complete, and up to date. Specific PubMed links are included wherever possible.
CADTH Grey Literature Sources
  • a curated list of evidence-based resources for health professionals, librarians and researchers

Search Strategy: Social Aspects of the Pandemic

Use the search term COVID along with a search term for the aspect of the pandemic you are interested in. Some examples (links lead to search results in Omni and open in another window):

Data

Visualizations

  • Medical Exemptions - COVID-19 Medical Exemptions from the University of Waterloo
  • LitCOVID - LitCOVID is a curated literature hub for tracking up-to-date scientific information about the 2019 novel Coronavirus. It is the most comprehensive resource on the subject, providing a central access to 1120 (and growing) research articles in PubMed. The articles are updated daily and are further categorized by different research topics and geographic locations for improved access.
  • WHO Global Research on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) - WHO is gathering the latest international multilingual scientific findings and knowledge on COVID-19. The global literature cited in the WHO COVID-19 database is updated daily (Monday through Friday) from searches of bibliographic databases, hand searching, and the addition of other expert-referred scientific articles. This database represents a comprehensive multilingual source of current literature on the topic. While it may not be exhaustive, new research is added regularly. In addition, it supports searching pre-prints from a select group of pre-print repository.
  • Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19): Authoritative and Relevant Resources - ProQuest - To help you better understand and discover the latest on COVID-19, including what it is, how it spreads and ways to keep safe, our editors have hand-selected particularly relevant articles from the most reliable global sources.
  • Canadian Institute for Health Information COVID-19 Intervention Scan
  • WHO Therapeutics and COVID-19: living guideline
  • The COVID-19 Solutions Guide - COVID-19 upended life as we knew it. To navigate the "new normal", our guide examines the adoption and adaptation of technology in response to the global pandemic.
  • Coronavirus - Cochrane -"This Special Collection has been created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is regularly updated. It aims to ensure immediate access to systematic reviews most directly relevant to the management of people hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infections. It includes reviews that are relevant to the WHO interim guidance, those identified as relevant by Cochrane Acute and Emergency Care, and also draws on the knowledge of Cochrane groups in affected regions."
  • Novel Coronavirus Information Center - Elsevier - Medical research on COVID-19 from Elsevier and Coronavirus Research Hub for clinicians.
  • Coronavirus - New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) - "A collection of articles and other resources on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus outbreak, including clinical reports, management guidelines, and commentary."
  • COVID-19 Tools & Resources for Clinicians - Wolters Kluwer from Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Online Network (Gideon) - a unique resource dedicated to the detection, prevention, and education of infectious diseases. This multimedia resource features up-to-date information and visual tools for diagnosing diseases and following the latest trends in epidemiology and treatment.
  • SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19 - Springer-Nature - As a leading research publisher, Springer Nature is committed to supporting the global response to emerging outbreaks by enabling fast and direct access to the latest available research, evidence, and data.
  • Coronavirus and COVID-19 from Nature.
  • COVID-19: Novel Coronavirus Outbreak - Wiley - In addition to the articles on this site related to the current outbreak, Wiley is also making a collection of journal articles and our book chapters on coronavirus research freely available to the global scientific community.
  • BioXiv - Preprint server for biology
  • Coronavirus Primer - Annual Reviews
  • ACS - Assay Techniques and Test Development for COVID-19 Diagnosis
  • Top 10 Coronavirus Research Articles by Metrics - Nature
  • OutbreakScience - Rapid PREreview - find reviews of existing preprints and request reviews of your own preprints
  • BMJ's Coronavirus (COVID-19) Hub - BMJ's covid-19 hub supports health professionals and researchers with practical guidance, online CPD courses, as well as the latest news, comment, and research from BMJ. The content is free and updated daily.
  • COVID-END - COVID-19 Evidence network to support decision making.
  • Epistomonikos COVID-19 Evidence
  • SPOR - COVID-19 Evidence Synthesis
  • ZB MED - COVID-19 HUB - provides special services to support research. Gradual expansion of services to support research on SARS-CoV-2 in the field of virology and related areas.
  • COVID19 Recommendations and Gateway to Contextualization. This eCOVID-19 living map of recommendations is funded by CIHR.
  • FasterCures: COVID-19 Treatment and Vaccine Tracker from the Milken Institute
  • Resources and Tools for Researchers considering and conducting COVID-19 evidence syntheses from COVID-END and McMaster

Vaccine Tracker

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Indigenous Peoples

MisInformation and Myths

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