Covid-19

Lessons and experiences from South Africa’s first surge

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21879600
AutoresDevanand Moonasar (Department of Health, autor correspondente), Anban Pillay (0000-0001-7160-6972, Department of Health), Elizabeth Leonard (0000-0003-1137-5505, COVID-19, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa), R Naidoo (0000-0002-6712-7474, Department of Health), Shadrack Mngemane (COVID-19, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa), Wayne Ramkrishna (Department of Health), Khadija Jamaloodien (Department of Health), Lebogang Lebese (Department of Health), Kamy Chetty (0000-0002-5226-2374, National Health Laboratory Service), Lesley Bamford (0000-0002-5788-4308, Department of Health), Gaurang Tanna (0000-0002-0692-2175, Department of Health), Nhlanhla Ntuli (Department of Health), Koleka Mlisana (0000-0002-8436-3268, University of KwaZulu-Natal), Lindiwe Madikizela (National Health Laboratory Service), Moeketsi Modisenyane (Department of Health), Christie Engelbrecht (Department of Health), Popo Maja (Department of Health), Funeka Bongweni (Department of Health), Tsakani Furumele (0000-0002-4192-2701, Department of Health), Natalie Mayet (0000-0001-5132-3465, National Institute for Communicable Diseases), Ameena Ebrahim Goga (0000-0002-2394-6486, South African Medical Research Council), Ameena Goga (Health Systems Research Unit and HIV Prevention Research Unit, Medical Research Council of South Africa, Tygerberg, South Africa), Ambrose Talisuna (0000-0002-7632-1535, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa), Otim Patrick Cossy Ramadan (0000-0003-2326-9291, Emergency Preparedness and Response, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Nairobi, Kenya), Yogan Pillay (0000-0003-2700-6181, COVID-19, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa)
Ano2021
Volume6
Fascículo2
Páginase004393
Data de publicação2021-02-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoBMJ Global Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2059-7908 • E-ISSN: 2059-7908
EditoraBMJ (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004393
PMID33627361
OpenAlexW3132725354
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas22

On 5 March 2020, South Africa recorded its first case of imported COVID-19. Since then, cases in South Africa have increased exponentially with significant community transmission. A multisectoral approach to containing and mitigating the spread of SARS-CoV-2 was instituted, led by the South African National Department of Health. A National COVID-19 Command Council was established to take government-wide decisions. An adapted World Health Organiszion (WHO) COVID-19 strategy for containing and mitigating the spread of the virus was implemented by the National Department of Health. The strategy included the creation of national and provincial incident management teams (IMTs), which comprised of a variety of work streams, namely, governance and leadership; medical supplies; port and environmental health; epidemiology and response; facility readiness and case management; emergency medical services; information systems; risk communication and community engagement; occupational health and safety and human resources. The following were the most salient lessons learnt between March and September 2020: strengthened command and control were achieved through both centralised and decentralised IMTs; swift evidenced-based decision-making from the highest political levels for instituting lockdowns to buy time to prepare the health system; the stringent lockdown enabled the health sector to increase its healthcare capacity. Despite these successes, the stringent lockdown measures resulted in economic hardship particularly for the most vulnerable sections of the population

Business · Corporate governance · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Health care · Political science · Population · Public health · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · Engineering · Medicine · Nursing · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy · Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research · Finance