CONTROLLING THE PANDEMIC

Different measurements of control are being taken around the world in order to prevent the spreading of COVID-19. On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Within their message to the world, WHO “balanced the certainty that the coronavirus (CARS-CoV-2) will inevitably spread to all parts of the world, with the observation that governments, businesses, and individuals still have substantial ability to change the disease’s trajectory” (Craven, Lui, Wilson, & Mysore, 2020).

 

Countries around the world are facing the need to get this disease under control. Each country seems to be doing this their own way due to leadership, outbreaks, deaths, etc. Craven et al. note that there seems to be two successful responses, and one not so successful, but overs a lessons. The three different courses of action that Craven et al., suggest countries are taking seem to be the following:

1. Extraordinary measures

2. Gradual control through public-health best practices and

3. Unsuccessful initial control that is leading to an overwhelmed health care system

 

Extraordinary measures are being put into place by some countries to slow down the spread as quickly as possible. China, for example, build “hospital in ten days, instituting a “lockdown: for almost 60 million people and significant restrictions for hundreds of millions of others” (Craven, Lui, Wilson, & Mysore, 2020). According to an article in USA today (2020), China had authorities going door-to-door for health check in order to isolate any resident showing symptoms in order to prevent the spreading. This extraordinary measure was even “separating parents from young children who displayed symptoms” (Hjelmgaard, Lyman, & Shesgreen, 2020). The country even had drones hovering the streets, telling people to get inside and getting people in trouble for not wearing face masks. This method has been successful in reducing transmissions of the virus at rapid rates.

 

Gradual control through public-health best practices such as testing, contact tracing, keeping health-care providers safe, social distancing, etc. Implementing these public health tools has helped countries achieve drops in new cases. In the first two weeks of the outbreak in South Korea they “experienced rapid case-count growth” (Craven, Lui, Wilson, & Mysore, 2020), going from approximately “100 cases on February 19 to more than 800 new cases on February 29” (Craven, Lui, Wilson, & Mysore, 2020).  Since the implementation of public health practices the number of new cases has dropped at a steady ready, but not quite as quickly as China’s. South Korea says they learned this method after the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) that took place in 2015. Singapore and Taiwan have chosen to take a similar approach, also seeing successful results.

 

Unsuccessful initial control that is leading to an overwhelmed health care system is taking place around the world. Some countries were not able to slow down the case growth leaving hospitals overwhelmed. Due to the “disproportionate impact on healthcare workers and lack of flexibility in the system creates a vicious cycle that makes it harder to bring the epidemic under control” (Craven, Lui, Wilson, & Mysore, 2020). An example of this is Italy. In less than three weeks “Italy went from having a handful of cases to the second-largest death toll after China” (Speciale, Lepido, & Kresge, 2020). This rapid outbreak caused intensive-care units to be flooded with hundreds of patients. The country has dedicated “more than 80% of the regions 1,123 acute-care beds” (Speciale, Lepido, & Kresge, 2020) to coronavirus patients. According to Speciale, et al’s article, some of the doctors have even said that they sometimes make the call on who gets the treatment based on the age of the patient. This is a result having a larger patient to treatment ratio.

 

Due to leadership and conditions, each country is taking what they believe is the appropriate measures. Each citizen is expected to (and should) follow these measures if they hope to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This pandemic is more serious than what people expected and now we are all just trying to end it as quickly as we can.

​

​

References: 

  Craven, M., Lui, L., Wilson, M., & Mysore, M. (2020). COVID-19: Implications for business. New York : McKinsey Insights. Retrieved from McKinsey & Company.

  Hjelmgaard, K., Lyman, E. J., & Shesgreen, D. (2020). This is what China did to beat coronavirus. Experts say America couldn't handle it. USA Today, N/A.

  Speciale, A., Lepido, D., & Kresge, N. (2020). Virus Spread Pushes Italian Hospitals Toward Breaking Point. Bloomberg , N/A.