Knowledge of these factors will serve to anticipate potential risks of a patient from the time of their admission and will have two main uses: the provision of better care for the patient depending on their initial risk, and the improvement in hospital management, particularly in periods of considerable healthcare pressure.
To meet these objectives, patient data will be used that have been gathered from different hospitals in the south Barcelona Metropolitan Area during the waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the research team aims to estimate the incubation time of the disease (the time between infection and the appearance of the first symptoms). This information is very useful to create simulation models that explore the evolution of the pandemic at global scale.
DIVINE is led by the gBiostatistics and Bioinformatics Research Group (GRBIO), comprised of UPC and University of Barcelona (UB) researchers. The project is coordinated by the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and other participants are the hospitals of Bellvitge, Moisès Broggi (Sant Joan Despí), General de l'Hospitalet, Viladecans, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Residència Sant Camil (Sant Pere de Ribes), Sant Antoni Abat (Vilanova i la Geltrú) and the Comarcal de l'Alt Penedès.
The project was one of four UPC projects selected for the call ‘Retreating to grow: the impact of pandemics in a world without visible borders’ (PANDÈMIES 2020) of the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR), for research projects whose aim is to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic specifically, and the concept of pandemic in general. The projects will be developed in a maximum of 18 months.