4.I. Workshop: Health systems resilience during COVID-19: Lessons for building back better

Abstract In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) appeared in the city of Wuhan, China. Since little was known about the new virus at the time, the initial reaction in many countries, including most countries in Europe, was to follow their existing pandemic influenza response plans. Countries that adopted this approach presumed that case- and contact-based management would be unable to cope with the scale of the outbreak and widespread community transmission would be inevitable. Yet it became increasingly apparent that COVID-19 was not like pandemic influenza, not least because it was caused by a coronavirus similar to SARS that had emerged in 2003 and whose successful management, maximum suppression leading to elimination, had been very different to that normally adopted with influenza. This was soon confirmed by knowledge of its transmission dynamics and epidemiology, as well as evidence from Wuhan, where the virus has been effectively eliminated even after widespread community transmission had commenced. There was also strong evidence to support the elimination approach from the early success of Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea and several countries outside Asia, such as New Zealand and Australia, which adopted a similar approach. As the pandemic continues into its second year, national responses to COVID-19 so far offer useful learning for the months ahead, as well as broader lessons for health system strengthening for the post-pandemic recovery. Countries th...
Source: The European Journal of Public Health - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research