COVID-19 response strategies: considering inequalities between and within countries
Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has been uncharted territory, and countries and governments have faced the challenge of implementing response strategies to manage local transmission.
by caremin
Abstract
Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has been uncharted territory, and countries and governments have faced the challenge of implementing response strategies to manage local transmission. High-income settings have the resources to devote significant resources to testing, isolation, and contact tracing. Lower-income settings are pressured to emulate such initiatives, but often lack the resources and infrastructure to do so. We highlight the impact of these between-country inequalities, the within-country inequalities, and the potential magnification of unintended consequences due to COVID-19 control measures.
Authors
Lincoln Leehang Lau, Natalee Hung and Kendall Wilson
Introduction
Since the emergence of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), policy makers and governments have had to make important decisions around what mitigation and control measures to implement. Given initial uncertainties about the nature of the disease, responses were varied country to country. Over time, three strategies have become recognized as the “back- bone” of the response to COVID-19: testing, isolation and contact tracing [1].
In certain countries, these measures appear to have contributed to reductions in the incidence of COVID-19 [2]. Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), however, do not have the resources nor the infrastructure to emulate such initiatives to the same extent, and yet may feel pressured to do so. There is a need to consider the inequalities that exist, both between countries and within countries, and ensure that response strategies are appropriate to the capacity of each jurisdiction.
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