Lessons Learned from CDC's Global COVID-19 Early Warning and Response Surveillance System

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Global Health Security

Background:

• Early Warning and Response Surveillance (EWARS) systems were crucial during the initial COVID-19 pandemic.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of these EWARS systems is vital for future global health security.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implemented a global COVID-19 EWARS system.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the CDC's global COVID-19 EWARS system and its data management resources.
• To evaluate the data quality and validity of the CDC EWARS system.
• To assess the system's utility in guiding the early COVID-19 response.

Main Methods:

• Described the CDC EWARS system and its data resources.
• Assessed data quality by measuring reporting completeness.
• Compared CDC EWARS data with data from Johns Hopkins University, ECDC, and WHO.

Main Results:

• The CDC EWARS system was integral to the early COVID-19 response but was labor-intensive.
• The system became less informative as case-level data declined and the pandemic evolved.
• CDC EWARS data showed similarity to data from other major global health organizations, confirming validity.

Conclusions:

• CDC EWARS data demonstrated validity comparable to other international surveillance systems.
• Collaboration between EWARS systems could enhance effectiveness during future pandemics.
• Despite limitations, EWARS systems provide valuable public health surveillance data.