Leveraging investments in Ebola preparedness for COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in China and transmission to more than 80 territories worldwide, including nine countries in Africa, presents a delicate situation for low-resource settings. Countries in Eastern and Central Africa have been on high alert since mid-2018 in anticipation of regional spread of the Ebola virus from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Significant investment has been made to support enhanced surveillance at point of entry and hospitals, infection control practices, clinical case management, and clinical research. With a new threat on the horizon, African countries have an opportunity to leverage the existing capacities for Ebola preparedness to brace for the imminent threat.

COVID‐19: A perspective on Africa's capacity and response

“…The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had a prolonged Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak that hit West Africa between 2013 and 2016, aggravated by weaknesses in the health system. Similar challenges have precipitated the 2018 EVD outbreak in the DRC, which is ongoing 41 . That outbreak seems all but over, but now the DRC faces both a major measles outbreak that has claimed almost 6000 lives in the past year and the new COVID‐19 pandemic.…”

“…Other epidemics such as HIV remain important public health concerns 39 . The recent Ebola outbreak that caused 11,310 deaths in West Africa 44 left Africa with lessons on how to tackles epidemics such as national and local preparedness capabilities in surveillance systems, isolation, quarantining, and diagnostic testing 41 . These capabilities need to be harnessed and strengthened and spread across all African states to enhance the response against COVID‐19.…”

Factors associated with adherence to COVID-19 prevention measures in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): results of an online survey

“…COVID-19 mass testing is highly recommended by the government, although not sufficiently available. 5 Other preventive measures that were implemented included closing schools, churches and all country borders; forbidding gatherings of more than 50 people; and limiting the number of passengers in public transportation. COVID-19 testing is only available in six cities, namely, Kinshasa, Matadi, Lubumbashi, Goma, Kolwezi and Mbandaka, with a very low daily testing rate of about 900 tests per day for a population of more than 89 million 2 12 …”

Urban health nexus with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) preparedness and response in Africa: Rapid scoping review of the early evidence

“…Unfortunately, many African countries spontaneously adopted same lockdown measures without requisite knowledge of the COVID-19 infection rate and the context-specific relevance of these measures. 30 , 33 , 34 , 41 , 43 , 45 , 46 Ghana, for instance, observed three weeks partial lockdown in the two most urbanised regions as part of the early control measures without sufficient evidence. Unlike other continents, Africa was fortunate to record COVID-19 cases months after other continents recorded cases.…”

“…Liberia, Sierra Leone, DRC and Guinea are currently re-purposing existing structures used during Ebola as COVID-19 isolation and treatment centres. 30 , 34 In DRC, single-patient-transparent cubes originally designed for isolation of Ebola cases are re-purposed for COVID-19 isolation and treatment centres. 41 Likewise, inter-sectoral collaboration with government institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), religious bodies, industry players and national security agencies have been effectively leveraged in many countries in Africa towards COVID-19 fight.…”