The Iraqi Kurdistan region imposed strong control measures against COVID-19 from the early stages of the outbreak. These measures included cross-border movement limitation with health screening that was followed by complete border closure, banning flights and COVID-19 testing for all people returning to the region from abroad. Furthermore, other measures were implemented, including the […]
Tag: covid-19
COVID-19 Experience Among Slum Dwellers In Nairobi: A Double Tragedy Or Useful Lesson For Public Health Reforms?
While the devastating consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic have not yet been felt by many countries in Africa, the same is not true for many others . For people living in the slums of Nairobi, this disease and the resulting government response have only worsened their livelihood. Despite being a significant size of […]
Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic: Importance of Diagnostics in Healthcare
As the world was preparing to celebrate n December 31, 2019, China began reporting to the World Health Organization (WHO), a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown aetiology in Hubei Province. One month later on January 30, 2020, after further outbreaks in 18 other countries, the WHO announced that a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, […]
Des modèles aux récits et inversement: un appel à des analyses sur le terrain de la propagation et de la réponse du COVID-19 en Afrique
Cette semaine, BMJ Global Health a publié deux modèles mathématiques pour prédire le schéma de propagation et les conséquences potentielles du COVID-19 en Afrique. Ces deux documents sont en avance sur plusieurs autres de ces exercices prédictifs en ce sens qu’ils s’efforcent délibérément de prendre en compte les différentes manières dont les gens vivent leur vie […]
COVID-19 in India: an epidemic in congested cities
WHO declared COVID-19 as Global Pandemic on March 12, 2020, at present, it is devasting entire World with 5691,790 cases and 355,629 deaths [1]. India reported the first case of COVID-19 in end of January 2020, and total reported cases crossed 1,58,000 cases with 4,534 deaths on May 27, 2020. COVID-19 is primarily transmitted […]
Why are funerals superspreading events for COVID-19 in Kurdistan?
In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), funerals appear to be one of the most significant superspreading events for COVID-19. Officials from the Ministry of Health (MoH) referred to funerals as the source of clusters of cases in several locations. One funeral, for example, accounted for the largest spike in COVID-19 cases on a single day. The role […]
From models to narratives and back: a call for on-the-ground analyses of COVID-19 spread and response in Africa
This week, BMJ Global Health published two mathematical models (here and here) to predict the pattern of spread and the potential consequences of COVID-19 in Africa. These two papers are steps ahead of several other such predictive exercises in that they make deliberate effort to take into account the different ways in which people […]
Building sustainable health financing options for emergency response: Lessons from the COVID-19 response in Africa
The ferocity with which global pandemic has affected countries globally has highlighted the importance of emergency public financing. The rapid spread of the disease requires a rapid, proactive and comprehensive approach in order to control its transmission. As such, governments need to have adequate funds availed in a timely manner to the health sector […]
COVID-19 in Haiti – a disaster unfolding
When the first case was confirmed on March 19, Haitians were already experiencing an upsurge in gang-associated activities, a spate of kidnappings, a falling currency, weeks of school closures, and a population deeply dissatisfied with the political leadership. In the context of these chronic ills, the rapidly escalating COVID-19 in Haiti represents an existential […]
Symbolism paradox – COVID 19 as the testing ground
With the SARS-CoV-2 managing to reach practically every nation on the globe, governments are facing the biggest challenge since World War II. Most nations have resorted to a range of promotive methods such as social distancing and handwashing drives to highly restrictive methods like complete lockdowns and curfews. Irrespective of the intervention, a group […]