Assessment of Healthcare System Capabilities and Preparedness in Yemen to Confront the Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak: A Perspective of Healthcare Workers

Zawiah, Mohammed; Al-Ashwal, Fahmi Y.; Saeed, Ramzi Mukred; Kubas, Mohammed Abdullah; Saeed, Sara; Khan, Amer Hayat; Sulaiman, Syed Azhar Syed; Abduljabbar, Rami

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2020.00419

Cited by 27 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Similarly, the majority of HCWs did not participate in educational activities and emergency planning for COVID-19. Accordingly, these findings could be attributed to the absence of pre-emptive plans and emergency response protocols for COVID-19 at healthcare facilities, lack of educational activities, and insufficient professional training for COVID-19 among the participants [ 6 ]. Moreover, the lack of such essential triage skills and protocols could lead to inappropriate resource utilisation, treatment delays and overcrowding in hospitals, which could increase the risk of cross - contamination [ 31 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently, as of July 13, 2020, approximately 1469 cases of COVID-19 have been officially confirmed with 418 deaths, and the ratio of the total reported deaths to the total reported confirmed cases was the highest among all countries [ 3 ]. This could be due to the severe shortage of testing laboratories and lack of essential resources for the management of severe cases of COVID-19 in the majority of the healthcare facilities [ 5 , 6 ]. In addition, the surveillance system in Yemen was only able to capture severe cases of infection as individuals with mild to moderate infection of the disease were not self-reported to healthcare facilities [ 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Healthcare workers’ knowledge, preparedness, counselling practices, and perceived barriers to confront COVID-19: A cross-sectional study from a war-torn country, Yemen

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) represents a difficult challenge and could have devastating consequences for the healthcare system and healthcare workers in war-torn countries with poor healthcare facilities such as Yemen. Our study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, preparedness, counselling practices of healthcare workers regarding COVID-19, and the perceived barriers to adequately prevent and control COVID-19 in Yemen. Methods Healthcare workers (HCWs) from major healthcare facilities participated in this cross-sectional study. A self-administered questionnaire comprising of five main domains (demographics, knowledge, self-preparedness, counselling practice, perceived barriers) was distributed among HCWs after obtaining informed consent. A convenient sampling technique was used. Descriptive and inferential analyses were applied using SPSS software. Results A total of 1000 participants were initially targeted to participate in the study with 514 (51.4%) responding, of which 55.3% were female. Physicians and nurses constituted the largest proportion of participants, with 39.5% and 33.3%, respectively. The median scores for knowledge, self-preparedness, and counselling practice were 8 (out of 9), 9 (out of 15), and 25 (out of 30), respectively. The physician group showed a statistically significant association with better knowledge compared to the nurse group only, P<0.001. Males had higher preparedness scores than females, p<0.001. Also, the intensive care unit (ICU) and emergency departments presented a statistically significant difference by which the participants from these departments were more prepared compared to the others (e.g. outpatients, paediatrics and surgery) with P < 0.0001. The lack of awareness among the general population about COVID-19 preventive measures was perceived as the most common barrier for the adequate prevention and control of COVID-19 in Yemen (89.1%). Conclusion The major highlight of this study is that HCWs have, overall, good knowledge, suboptimal preparedness, and adequate counselling practices prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Yemen, despite the high number of perceived barriers. However, urgent action and interventions are needed to improve the preparedness of HCWs to manage COVID-19. The perceived barriers also need to be fully addressed by the local healthcare authorities and international organisations working in Yemen for adequate prevention and control measures to be in place in managing COVID-19.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Healthcare workers’ knowledge, preparedness, counselling practices, and perceived barriers to confront COVID-19: A cross-sectional study from a war-torn country, Yemen

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…10 Separately, a shortage of personal protective equipment forced several hospitals to close or reject patients exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. 3,12,15…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aden governorate, Yemen: a geospatial and statistical analysis

Besson

Norris

Ghouth

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

(ENGLISH) Background The burden of COVID-19 in low-income and conflict-affected countries is still unclear, largely reflecting low testing rates. In parts of Yemen, reports indicated a peak in hospital admissions and burials during May-June 2020. To estimate excess mortality during the epidemic period, we quantified activity across all identifiable cemeteries within Aden governorate in Yemen (population approximately one million) by analysing very high-resolution satellite imagery, and compared estimates to Civil Registry office records from the city. Methods After identifying active cemeteries through remote and ground information, we applied geospatial analysis techniques to manually identify new grave plots and measure changes in burial surface area over a period from July 2016 to September 2020. After imputing missing grave counts using surface area data, we used alternative approaches, including simple interpolation and a generalised additive mixed growth model, to predict both actual and counterfactual (no epidemic) burial rates by cemetery and across the governorate during the most likely period of COVID-19 excess mortality (from 1 April 2020), and thereby compute excess burials. We also analysed death notifications to the Civil Registry office during April-July 2020 and in previous years. Results We collected 78 observations from 11 cemeteries, of which 10 required imputation from burial surface area. Cemeteries ranged in starting size from 0 to 6866 graves. In all but one a peak in daily burial rates was evident from April to July 2020. Interpolation and mixed model methods estimated ≈ 1500 excess burials up to 6 July, and 2120 up to 19 September, corresponding to a peak weekly increase of 230% from the counterfactual. Satellite imagery estimates were generally lower than Civil Registry data, which indicated a peak 1823 deaths in May alone. However, both sources suggested the epidemic had waned by September 2020. Discussion To our knowledge this is the first instance of satellite imagery being used for population mortality estimation. Findings suggest a substantial, under-ascertained impact of COVID-19 in this urban Yemeni governorate, and are broadly in line with previous mathematical modelling predictions, though our method cannot distinguish direct from indirect virus deaths. Satellite imagery burial analysis appears a promising novel approach for monitoring epidemics and other crisis impacts, particularly where ground data are difficult to collect.

show abstract

“…According to the literature, many countries are experiencing shortages of supplies during the pandemic. Because of poor detection capabilities and insufficient knowledge of infection prevention and control (IPC) protocols (113)(114)(115)(116)(117)(118), it is difficult to implement these measures. But during the pandemic, we must strive to achieve standard prevention and to avoid cross-infection.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing Safe Dental Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations Based on a Guide Developed for Dental Practices in China

Zeng

Chen

et al. 2021

Front. Med.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The current global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is still exerting severe global implications, and its development in various regions is complex and variable. The high risk of cross-infection poses a great challenge to the dental practice environment; it is therefore urgent to develop a set of pandemic prevention measures to ensure dental practice safety during the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, we combined the epidemiological characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), public emergency measures for COVID-19, characteristics of dental practice, and relevant literature reports to develop a set of dynamic practice measures for dental practices in high-, medium-, and low-risk areas affected by COVID-19. This will help dental practices to achieve standard prevention and ensure their safe and smooth operation during the pandemic. It is hoped that these measures will provide a reference basis for dental hospitals and dental clinics in their care and pandemic prevention work.

show abstract

Assessment of Healthcare System Capabilities and Preparedness in Yemen to Confront the Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak: A Perspective of Healthcare Workers

Cited by 27 publications

References 10 publications

Healthcare workers’ knowledge, preparedness, counselling practices, and perceived barriers to confront COVID-19: A cross-sectional study from a war-torn country, Yemen

Healthcare workers’ knowledge, preparedness, counselling practices, and perceived barriers to confront COVID-19: A cross-sectional study from a war-torn country, Yemen

Excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aden governorate, Yemen: a geospatial and statistical analysis

Optimizing Safe Dental Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations Based on a Guide Developed for Dental Practices in China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About