COVID-19 in China: Responses, Challenges and Implications for the Health System

Abstract

A public health crisis is a “touchstone” for testing the ability and capacity of a national health system. In the current era, public health crises are presenting new systematic and cross-border characteristics and uncertainty. The essence of a system for public health crisis governance is the rules administering the stimulus–response chain. The health system generally emphasizes joint participation and communication between different subjects, which may lead to overlap and redundancy as well as a lack of auxiliary support for major public health crisis events. In the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China, we track the responses, challenges, and implications of the temporary disruption of the health system and its response to this major public health crisis. We examine local governance capacity, performance in pandemic control, and the coordinated responses to COVID-19. Accordingly, we identify the challenges to the health system, including the imbalance in attention given to medical care versus health care, insufficient grassroots public health efforts and control capacity, and untimely information disclosure. It is strongly suggested that the government improve its cognitive ability and focus more attention on building and strengthening the emergency health system.

COVID-19 in Rural China: Features, Challenges and Implications for the Healthcare System

“…In 2018, only 15% of personnel had a bachelor’s degree or above. 1 Rural doctors account for more than 1/3 of the grassroots medical staff, and they are the main force of rural grassroots health prevention and control by virtue of their familiarity with villagers. However, it is undeniable that elderly grassroots medical workers offer little support for the prevention and control of infectious diseases.…”

“…The prevention and control of the pandemic ultimately needs the establishment of a multidimensional and deep governance system. 1 In the post-pandemic era, the reconstruction of multiple prevention and control strategies and promotion of the modernization of public healthcare governance are important to address many risks in the future. It is suggested to reform the medical service supply system in rural areas, improve the emergency response mechanism for major public health events and strengthen health publicity and education.…”

“…After the pandemic crisis, these measures need to be further refined and improved to become an important part of the emergency mechanism for major public health emergencies. 1 ,2…”

“…As the greatest change in the century, the pandemic can be said to be a catalyst accelerating the renewal and reorganization of elements worldwide. 1 …”

COVID-19: Were Public Health Interventions and the Disclosure of Patients’ Contact History Effective in Upholding Social Distancing? Evidence from South Korea

“…1 In the absence of treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the pandemic led to the unprecedented health and economic crisis. 2,3 Accordingly, governments all over the world are earnestly imposing strict case isolation, contact tracing, and/or social distancing measures to reduce the transmission of this pandemic. While the number of infections continues to rise rapidly, some countries such as Australia, Georgia, and Taiwan have the flattened curve of new infections, drawing great attention of global public health experts.…”