Table 1.

Population, Outcomes and Study types (POS) framework for study inclusion.

Population	Patients (of any age) infected with COVID-19 with information on either viral load or detection during infection (including in the pre-symptomatic phase) and/or duration of infectivity. •Subgroups of interest adults vs children
Outcomes	Primary outcomes: •Ribonucleic Acid (viral load or detection) during infection (the test used [including cut-off if reported], sample site [e.g. upper/lower respiratory, faecal, urine], test timing [number of days symptomatic pre-testing (if relevant)], clinical characteristics of the population (age, comorbidity) and clinical syndrome associated with COVID-19 (asymptomatic, mild illness, pneumonia, severe pneumonia, ARDS, sepsis, septic shock) •Duration of virus detection (define start as: first confirmed positive test (or symptom onset); use WHO criteria (where reported) for end of detection, that is, two consecutive negative PCR tests 24 h apart). •Period of infectiousness/infectivity (defined as the time interval during which SARS-CoV-2 may be transferred from an infected person to another person).
Types of Studies	Include: •any study that reports on the viral load or duration of viral detection or infectivity of COVID-19. Exclude: •studies where COVID-19 was not confirmed with a laboratory test.

Key: ARDS - acute respiratory distress syndrome; COVID-19 - coronavirus disease 2019; SARS-CoV-2 - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; WHO - World Health Organization.