How other countries are battling Covid-19 pandemic

China
Confirmed cases: 80,880. Deaths: 3,213

With more than 80,000 cases of Covid-19, China, the ground zero of the outbreak, remains the worst-hit country in the world.
But China has made tremendous progress in the fight against the virus, with only 35 new cases reported on Monday.

In its strategy, which has been hailed by WHO, Beijing employed a multi-pronged approach, which included mass electronic surveillance and lockdowns.

It started by setting up two hospitals in Wuhan in just over one week.

Health care workers were deployed from all over China to Wuhan. An unprecedented effort to trace contacts of confirmed cases then followed.

China also launched mass electronic surveillance including scanning a QR code, writing down one’s name and ID number, temperature and recent travel history before gaining entry into one’s apartment compound or workplace.

Telecoms have also been tracking people’s movements while tech companies have rolled out facial recognition technologies that detect elevated temperatures in a crowd.

For business, use of plastic money was enforced. Mobile phone apps AliPay and WeChat helped enforce the restrictions and allow the government to keep track of people’s movements.

United States
Confirmed cases: 3,802. Deaths: 69

The US, with over 3,800 cases and more 120 new cases yesterday, is among countries that have recorded rapid spread of the virus.

The strategy employed by President Trump revolves around contact tracing.

On February 29, Vice-President Mike Pence touted contact tracing as a way to contain the outbreak, following its success in handling Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in 2014.

In the wake of outbreaks in Asia and Europe, the White House had issued travel restrictions, imposed mandatory quarantines.

The Trump administration, ''The Time'' reports, has also “authorised disease surveillance within major American cities, where the medical community has been blind for weeks to the expanding number of new cases”.

Austria
Confirmed cases: 1,018. Deaths: 158

Austria, with over 1,000 Covid-19 cases by yesterday, stepped up its lockdown by putting its civil defence forces on standby.

The civil defence comprises citizens who passed through obligatory national service.

Vienna has also cancelled leave for 25,000 police officers who are now required to effect the lockdown.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told Parliament that public assemblies of more than five people were now prohibited.

Public places such as playgrounds, sports venues and cinemas alongside restaurants, bars and cafes, were ordered shut by Monday.

The government has also ordered closure of non-essential shops such as those selling clothes, cosmetics, books and furniture.

The UK

Confirmed cases: 1,376. Deaths: 35

According to BBC News, new restrictions are being imposed on visitor access to Parliament, while overseas travel by MPs and peers is being strongly discouraged.

Furthermore, major sporting and cultural events have been cancelled or postponed in the UK and mayoral and local elections in England have been put off for a year until May 2021.

Schools have been advised to cancel trips abroad, while people over 70 and those with pre-existing health conditions have been told not to go on cruises.

Testing will only focus on identifying people with the virus in hospital.

Public Health England has also issued Stay at Home guidelines which include: stay at least 2m (about three steps) away from other people in your home if possible, sleep alone if possible and wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, each time using soap and water, or use hand sanitiser among others.

Italy

Confirmed cases: 24,747. Deaths 1,809

According to the Italian Ministry of Health (Ministero della Salute) website, suspension of bar, pub and restaurant activities are among the measures taken.

Closure of hairdressers and beauty centres as well are envisaged.

Food, petrol stations, newsagents and tobacconists will remain open as well as pharmacies and opticians and other commercial services for basic necessities such as those for animal care.

Industries will remain open but with “security measures”", that is, provided they guarantee initiatives to avoid contagion.

The “non-essential” production departments were closed. The regulation of work shifts and early holidays is also encouraged as well as limited movement of citizens.

South Africa
Confirmed cases 38, zero deaths

On February 27, President Cyril Ramaphosa directed the repatriation of South African citizens from Wuhan.

After reporting its first case on March 1, the Emergency Operating Centre identified the contacts by interviewing the patient and doctor.

A tracer team was then deployed to KwaZulu-Natal with epidemiologists and clinicians.

Activities already undertaken by the National Department of Health include: an alert developed and disseminated to all Multi-sectoral National Outbreak Response Team and provincial outbreak response teams have been activated, press releases circulated and various officials from departments of health and international relations have been interacting with the media and the public.

A hotline was also set up at the National Incident Centre to field questions from clinicians.

Furthermore, South Africa developed and distributed clinical guidelines and case definitions to doctors and nurses in both the public and the private sectors.

Egypt
Confirmed cases 110; two deaths

The Health and Population ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed said in an interview with a local TV that they are working to upgrade preparations in ports all across the country and they’re following up the situation first-hand.

The government has also closed schools and some universities to prevent the outbreak from worsening.

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian President, has also announced the allocation of $6.4 billion to fund a “comprehensive plan” to combat the new coronavirus.

Iran
Confirmed cases 13,983; deaths 724

Iran is one of the countries that’s severely affected.

It has set up a National Task Force for fighting coronavirus. The task force has set up a screening scheme to collect information from families throughout the country.

According to the Deputy Minister of Health and Medical Education, Dr Alireza Raeesi, patients from all families throughout the country will be identified and directed towards health centres.
Some 1,200 specialised health centres have been activated in the country for treating Covid-19 patients.

The task force also proposed carrying out administrative and public affairs through electronic means to reduce the need for people to go to offices.

Asia Pacific countries
Pre-emptive communication, clear management structures for public health response, transparency, early travel restrictions, aggressive screening and testing, enforcement of strict quarantine, made up a range of actions that halted the spread of the virus in most of the Asian Pacific region which is in close proximity with China.

Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan are some of the countries that have been commended for decisively dealing with the pandemic.

The disposition in these countries differs from those of many countries in the world such as the US and most of Europe, which seem to be in a mode of panic and confusion, telling from the reactionary pronouncements that seem to characterise every-day developments.

But their response was also influenced by past experience with outbreaks such as SARS and H1N1, during which they built robust systems for tracking and containing epidemics. These past epidemiological nightmares killed hundreds in the Asian Pacific region sparking wholesale revisions to public health systems in affected countries.

“The experience of these countries clearly demonstrates that aggressive testing and contact tracing, combined with social distancing measure and community mobilisation, can prevent infections and save lives,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a news conference in Geneva last Friday.

Norway
Confirmed cases 1,266; deaths three.

In one of the most radical plans to arrest the spread of Covid-19, Norway right wing government is preparing to expel foreigners without a residence permit.

Norway closed its borders to foreigners on Saturday.

Citizens advised not to travel abroad for the next month and Norwegians outside the country to consider returning home as soon as possible.

Compiled by Harry Misiko, Faith Oneya and Pauline Kairu