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To better prepare for future pandemics, understanding how transmission dynamics evolve globally is essential. While air travel plays a major role in spreading infectious diseases internationally, local mobility presents unique opportunities for improved local pandemic mitigation policies. New research focused on Chile in the COVID-19 pandemic provides insights into how the virus spread in the region, emphasising the importance of land-based mobility and local movement patterns.
Chile’s robust genomic surveillance program, alongside non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) like neighbourhood-level interventions, provided an opportunity for studying viral transmission at local scales. Regional differences shape local outbreaks, and these local dynamics can influence global transmission patterns.
This new study found that from late 2020, distinct variants emerged and spread in South America, with land border crossings, rather than air travel, highlighted as a major pathway between country spread rather than airline-based passenger movements.