摘要
Northern Cyprus has implemented relatively strict measures in the battle against the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The measures were introduced at the beginning of the COVID-19pandemic, in order to prevent the spread of the disease. One of these measures was the use of two separate realtime reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) tests for SARS-CoV-2 referred to as the doublescreening procedure, which was adopted following the re-opening of the sea, air and land borders for passengersafter the first lockdown. The rRT-PCR double screening procedure involved reporting a negative rRT-PCR testwhich was carried in 72 to 120 h before departure whilst presenting no known symptoms of the COVID-19and performing a second rRT-PCR test at the point of arrival. This study compares the results of SARS-CoV-2rRT-PCR tests performed on incoming flight passengers from the 1st July to 9th of September 2020 to NorthernCyprus. The rRT-PCR test results collected by the Near East University (NEU) DESAM COVID-19 laboratory werecompared with the rRT-PCR test results collected by the Ministry of Health and/or private COVID-19 laboratoriesin Northern Cyprus. This comparative study was conducted using binomial distribution. In addition, by applyingthe Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Removed (SEIR) model to Northern Cyprus, overall basic reproduction number(R0) value of the COVID-19 was analysed for the same time period to act as a threshold for this comparison.In both the statistical and SEIR mathematical model, R0 was calculated. It was assumed that, the more similarthe R0 results of NEU DESAM COVID-19 laboratory and other laboratories were with the overall R0 value ofNorthern Cyprus, the more reliable the results would be. We calculated that the median R0 values of the NEUDESAM COVID-19 laboratory and other laboratories performing the SARS-CoV-2 rRT-PCR on air passengersduring the studied period to be 0.96 and 1.29, respectively, compared to Northern Cyprus median R0 value whichwas 0.99. The rRT-PCR screening results from the NEU DESAM COVID-19 laboratory were closely aligned withthe screening results of Northern Cyprus whereas the screening results reported by other laboratories were not in afit with the regional pattern. This study also aimed to point out the importance of the rRT-PCR screening procedure since asymptomatic positive SARS-CoV-2 cases entery to Northern Cyprus was inhibited and this prevented thespread of the disease within the population.
