write a report on the current pandemic situation in about 1000 words.10 marks
Answers
Explanation:
The purpose of this note is to outline public health and social measures useful for slowing or stopping the spread of
COVID-19 at national or community level. Guidance for case finding and management, personal and environmental
measures, travel measures, and mass gatherings is available on the WHO website available here.
Public health and social measures are measures or actions by individuals, institutions, communities, local and
national governments and international bodies to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19. These measures to reduce
transmission of COVID-19 include individual and environmental measures, detecting and isolating cases, contact-
tracing and quarantine, social and physical distancing measures including for mass gatherings, international travel
measures, and vaccines and treatments. While vaccines and specific medications are not yet available for COVID-19,
other public health and social measures play an essential role in reducing the number of infections and saving lives.
Social and physical distancing measures aim to slow the spread of disease by stopping chains of transmission of
COVID-19 and preventing new ones from appearing. the general public include introducing flexible work
arrangements such as teleworking, distance learning, reducing and avoiding crowding, closure of non-essential
facilities and services, shielding and protection for vulnerable groups, local or national movement restrictions and
staying-at home measures, and coordinated reorganization of health care and social services networks to protect
hospitals. The measures are used in conjunction with individual protective measures against COVID-19 such as
frequent hand washing and cough etiquette.
All public health measures to stop disease spread can be balanced with adaptive strategies to encourage community
resilience and social connection, protect incomes and secure the food supply. Countries should balance the possible
benefits and negative consequences of each intervention and deploy strategies to encourage community
engagement, gain trust and limit social or economic harm. There are many strategies that can support community
resilience and mental health, protect access to essential goods and services, and limit the economic impact of stay-
at-home measures where these are deemed necessary. For example, organizing work-sites to ensure physical
distance between persons, such as staggering shifts over time, or converting on-site service to home delivery may
help to keep more businesses open. Tele-working and tele-schooling strategies in different contexts demonstrate
innovation and the role of technology in supporting business continuity and sustaining social connection within
families and communities. In general, implementation of distancing measures should also aim to sustain personal
and professional community connections by virtual means and technology, including widely accessible means such
as radio and mobile phones.
Alongside all these measures remains there is the critical to test all suspected cases of COVID-19 wherever possible,
promptly isolate cases, trace contacts to the widest extent possible, and ensure quarantine of contacts for the
duration of the incubation period. This goes for any context or level of spread of the pandemic in a country, in order
to deepen the benefits of social measures. Social measures should make the task of contact tracing much easier as
the number of contacts rapidly dwindles and eventually the number of cases declines as well. As social measures are
lifted, it is essential to continue to strengthen case-finding, isolation for COVID-19 cases and quarantine of contacts,
in order to respond to resurgent or imported cases. Coordinated reorganization of health and social services is
essential to assess and test persons rapidly, treat patients effectively, and protect hospitals and health personnel.
WHO has described four levels of COVID-19 transmission. These are countries or local areas with: 1. No cases
reported. 2. Sporadic cases. 3. Clusters of cases (grouped in place and time), or 4. Community transmission.
Countries are putting in place a range of public health and social measures in different combinations and at varying
times in the local evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. The alignment of public health measures to levels of
transmission in a community is not fixed in stone. Countries may wish to specify which measures are to be taken at
each level and review the situation regularly. A package of measures may be applied at local, regional or national
level and adjusted as needed, considering aspects such as culture, living environments, terrain and access to needed
resources. Essential services should remain operational and governments should put in place social and economic
policies to limit the longer term economic impact, support community resilience and enable rapid recovery.