PONE-D-21-35130PERSONS TESTED FOR SAR-CoV-2 AT A MILITARY TREATMENT FACILITY IN HAWAIIPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Barranco-Trabi,

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Sanjay Kumar Singh Patel, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: In the current research article entitled " Persons Tested for Sar-CoV-2 at a Military Treatment Facility in Hawaii", by Barranco-Trabiet al., studied to identify trends in race-based disparities in COVID-19 in the setting of universal access to care. They evaluated the characteristics of individuals diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection at TAMC in a retrospective, case-controlled (1:1) study by using Multivariable logistic regression analyses. Authors concluded that the African-American patients and patients who identified as “Other “ethnicities were two times more likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 relative to Caucasian patients. This article addresses a research topic of great interest, which is under intense investigation in the past years and the manuscript is generally well-written. However, this reviewer has certain suggestions that would help produce a more comprehensive overview of the topic:

Suggestions: -

1, Figures quality may be improved with high resolution images (minor).

2, The English of manuscript can be refined (minor).

3, It is required to provide an additional illustrative figure as to highlight the summary or prospect of this study.

4, More discussion needed to explain the findings.

5, Authors should cite some research to strengthen their hypothesis.

Reviewer #2: IIn this paper entitled "Persons tested for SAR-CoA-2 at a military treatment facility in Hawaii", the authors investigate a trend in race-based disparities in COVID-19 in individuals diagnosed with SARS-COV-2 infection in a retrospective, case-controlled study. The results are exciting and easy to understand. Many studies have found similar results in different settings. The manuscript is acceptable for publication. However, there is notable problem with the manuscript.

Comments:

1) The bar graphs in the manuscript (figure1,2,& 3) are regular Microsoft excel graphs. They should be changed for publication.

2) Discussion is completely missing from the manuscript. Please discuss our results.

3) Figure legends are also missing from the manuscript.

4) Proper reference is not provided in the manuscript.

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PERSONS TESTED FOR SAR-CoV-2 AT A MILITARY TREATMENT FACILITY IN HAWAII

PONE-D-21-35130R1

Dear Dr. Barranco-Trabi,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Sanjay Kumar Singh Patel, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #1: This article entitled "PERSONS TESTED FOR SAR-CoV-2 AT A MILITARY TREATMENT FACILITY IN HAWAII" has improved.

Reviewer #2: In this paper entitled "Persons tested for SAR-CoV-2 at a military treatment facility in Hawaii." the authors aimed to identify trends in race-based disparities in COVID-19 in the setting of universal access to care. There is huge improvement in the manuscript from the past version. In addition, the author has addressed all the comments in the manuscript. The manuscript looks much better now for publication. There is no technical limitation that can be held responsible for the rejection of the manuscript. I congratulate the authors for the work.