Computational reproducibility is an important part of any computational science as the paper is typically a summarised version of the experiments with the traditional methods section insufficient for a reader to reproduce the results. Often, critical details relating to data pre-processing through to simulation are described imprecisely, and can only be uncovered by analysing code.

The efficiency of the various and intricate intervention strategies used in recent years to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has varied. However, a systematic analysis and modelling of the combined effects of different viral lineages and complex intervention policies remains a challenge

The nonlinear dynamics observed in the daily incidence and disease burden were determined not only by introduction of sub-lineages of Omicron, but also by the fluctuating adoption of social distancing measures

Interventions to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases, while succeeding in their goal, have economic and social costs associated with them. These limit the duration and intensity of the interventions.

Identifying optimal COVID-19 policies is challenging. Therefore, COVID-19-related policy decisions must be made in the context of substantial uncertainty, a significant challenge for policy makers. In this complex environment it is increasingly important that the benefits and drawbacks of interventions are rigorously and systematically compared – including from a cost effectiveness perspective

This work describes an approach to support evidence-based public health decisions and policy, which may help inform other responses to similar outbreak events.

The approach utilises an agent-based model simulating pandemic responses in Australia, and accounts for a heterogeneous population with variable levels of compliance fluctuating over time and across individuals

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the combined disciplines of public health, infectious disease and policy modelling squarely into the spotlight

Waning of immunity following COVID-19 vaccination presents a challenge when attempting to model likely population impacts of COVID-19 policy options

New modelling shows reopening the Western Australian border prior to June 2022 is required to minimise peak daily and total health burdens

How effective are current non-pharmaceutical interventions against the Sydney COVID-19 outbreak?

New modelling shows non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccinating school children required to contain Delta variant outbreaks in Australia

Rapid roll-out of vaccination is particularly critical to controlling Malaysia’s epidemic, with continuing NPIs likely to be needed throughout much of the roll-out period.

Pandemic responses across the world have been highly reactive. However, there remain only three strategic options to managing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): mitigation, suppression and elimination

The improvement in Victoria’s second wave of COVID-19 cases could be well captured in our transmission model through a combination of time-varying processes that included: testing rates, population mobility, use of face coverings, and physical distancing.

New modelling suggests that NSW – as well Victoria and ACT – should have confidence that opening up will be ‘okay’ at 70 to 80 per cent double vaccinated

The reduction in vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 transmission increases the risk. As such, carrying out a frequent routine testing of highly exposed vaccinated groups could mitigate the increased risk due to vaccination

For us to ‘live with the virus’ will take more effort that what many of us assume, but by effectively using the tools we have now and innovating, we can achieve a well-functioning society in 2022.

Direct, honest and empathetic communication as well as empowering the public to act, are recommended strategies for effective government crisis communication

Victoria's new Roadmap out of lockdown shows that the key to opening up and reducing risk in Victoria will be making sure workers across the state are vaccinated

Diagnoses and hospitalisations in Sydney will continue increasing for several weeks before reaching a peak and declining once sufficient vaccine-acquired immunity is achieved.

Infection fatality rate does not account for potential differences in transmission and incidence by ethnicity, risk factors for accelerated transmission include crowded housing affecting a quarter of Maori and almost half of Pacific people.

With existing intentions of the Australian population regarding vaccination, current vaccine efficacy and the infectiousness of the Delta variant, herd immunity through vaccination alone seems improbable

Unlike its Nordic neighbours, Sweden maintained an open border in the first half of 2020 within the EU and beyond and imposed no quarantine requirements for arrivals.

Doherty-led modelling is being interpreted as saying that the number of daily cases in a state makes little difference to futures if releasing restrictions.

Speeding up the vaccine rollout in Sydney and New South Wales helps with the Delta outbreak, but lockdowns may matter more in the short term

What has the least health losses and is the most cost-effective of 4 policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic (aggressive elimination, moderate elimination, tight suppression, and loose suppression) in the state of Victoria, Australia?

Even with high vaccination coverage, continually introducing cases through relaxed quarantine is likely to lead to outbreaks that require public health responses. However, greater vaccine coverage provides a variety of response and control options.

Even with high vaccination coverage, continually introducing cases through relaxed quarantine is likely to lead to outbreaks that require public health responses. However, greater vaccine coverage provides a variety of response and control options.

COVID-19 modelling will continue to play a critical role in guiding pandemic responses, whether it is used to identify key characteristics of emerging variants or to project disease spread under various scenarios

New COVID-19 modelling finds NSW’s hard decision to go into hard lockdown gives the State more certainty about how long they’ll be stuck in there

COVID-19 dynamics in the Philippines are driven by age, contact structure, mobility, and Minimum Health Standards (MHS) adherence. Continued compliance with low-cost MHS should help the Philippines control the epidemic until vaccines are widely distributed, but disease resurgence may be occurring due to a combination of low population immunity and detection rates and new variants of concern.

The Delta outbreak in NSW is quickly spiralling out of control, will Victorian-style restrictions be sufficient to control its spread?

After controlling for factors such as age, underlying health conditions and socioeconimic deprivation, the Maori and Pacific people have risk of being hospitalized from COVID-19 infection.

As Australia looks toward opening its international borders, new virus modelling provides scenarios that can help us decide what’s the right risk to tolerate

Early and robust application of social distancing measures are known to be an appropriate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it underpinning their effectiveness is proactive timing

The higher the vaccination coverage is, the more collective protection the population has against COVID-19 health outcomes.

Better public health outcomes and lower economy costs occur when social distancing measures are more stringent, implemented earlier and implemented for a sufficiently long duration.

Thousands of deaths likely if COVID-19 ‘left to run’ in Victoria without high vaccine uptake and public health measures, new modelling shows

Lockdowns mitigate the spread of COVID-19, but is this sufficient to justify the associated health and economic costs?

Adequate provision of good support systems that allow individuals to effectively quarantine and isolate themselves boost efficient contact tracing success.

In order to identify appropriate responses to a pandemic, governments should adopt a consequentialist approach with the aim of reducing the disease burden to an acceptable level of harm.

It has become clear that most governments in the world underestimated the risks of rapid COVID-19 spread and were mostly reactive in their crisis response. As disease outbreaks are not likely to disappear in the near future, proactive international actions are required to not only save lives but also protect economic prosperity.

Early mask use should be considered if community transmission is present, as this has a greater effect than later mask-wearing mandates.

Investigating the risk of COVID-19 outbreak from within the quarantine facilities showed that shorter quarantine periods or reliance on testing only with no quarantine may increase risk of an infected case being released to the community. Frontline workers at this facilities risk exposure to the infected individuals as this may lead to a local community outbreak.

Control measures such as social distancing and border controls significantly contribute to mitigating COVID-19 spread especially targeting superspreading

Addressing implications of Australia's a mass-vaccination approach to prevent future outbreaks of COVID-19

Ongoing investment in mathematical modelling expertise in general is needed to provide key model-based policies and help in strengthening New Zealand’s capacity to prepare and manage present and future pandemics

Universal use of face masks and reducing the number of people on campus may allow safer universities reopening.

Human population movement plays an important role in the spread of infectious diseases, and countries must adapt quickly and adjust their containment measures to reduce the spread of infection.

A judicious vaccination strategy will be required to suppress outbreaks in Australia until vaccine supply is unrestricted

Quantifying true infection rates in developing countries is an urgent health priority for better public health decision-making in relation to COVID-19 surveillance

There are various mitigation and suppression strategies aimed to control the spread of COVID-19, how do we quantify their relative benefits?

Samoa, which had large measles epidemics in 2019–2020 should focus on rapidly achieving high rates of measles vaccination and enhanced surveillance for COVID-19.

Demographic, epidemiological, and socioeconomic factors will likely result in differential impacts of COVID-19 on low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and other vulnerable groups compared with high resource settings.

The travel ban on individuals arriving from China successfully delayed the onset of widespread transmission in Australia by approximately four weeks

In general, models have played an important role in policy development to address the COVID-19 outbreak from its emergence in China to the current global pandemic.

The ability of countries to contain and control COVID-19 virus transmission via social distancing is critical in the absence of a vaccine.

Australia's travel restrictions during the first wave of COVID-19 were highly effective at containing the local epidemic.

The ability of countries to contain and control COVID-19 virus transmission via social distancing is critical in the absence of a vaccine.