The Concern
COVID-19 has negatively impacted all social and economic sectors at macro and micro levels countrywide. Citing the education sector as an example, it caused all schools, colleges, and universities throughout the country to be closed from March 2020, causing all students to stay at home without classes. On June 29, 2020, the government announced the reopening of all primary and secondary schools, emphasizing prevention measures like hand washing, social distancing, and wherever possible the use of masks.
According to the government, it was reported that until June this year, there were no hospitalized COVID-19 cases in the country. In the neighboring East African Community, the story was different. Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi were counting new cases of COVID-19 every day.
Our Response
Our Emergent Outbreak Response Programs & COVID-19
Having the magnitude of COVID-19 in mind, Nguzo decided to come up with an intervention of providing hand washing facilities (plastic water tanks and soaps) to the five primary schools in Hai district which have been under the Nguzo training program. The overall goals were to increase awareness of COVID-19 within the five schools and prevent the spread of COVID-19 among individuals, school members, and the community at large.
Intervention Components:
i. Education and training to create awareness of COVID-19 management in the five primary schools of the project.
ii. Provision of hand washing facilities (i.e. three water tanks and soaps) in each primary school of the project area. Increasing access to clean water and promoting effective hygiene practices was essential in mitigating the spread of the virus.
iii. Facilitation of early warning systems, rapid response teams, and public health interventions (see definitions below).
Early warning systems can help to identify potential outbreaks before they become widespread, allowing for a rapid response to contain and control the spread of the disease. These systems may include disease surveillance, monitoring of animal populations, and analysis of social media and other data sources to identify early warning signs of outbreaks.
Rapid response teams can be quickly deployed to investigate outbreaks and provide medical and public health interventions. These teams may include epidemiologists, healthcare workers, and emergency responders who can provide medical care, testing, and contact tracing.
Public health interventions such as vaccination, quarantine, and social distancing measures can help to control the spread of infectious diseases and reduce the impact of outbreaks. Effective communication strategies are also essential to ensure that the public is aware of the risks and understands how to protect themselves and their communities.
Although our outbreak response plan was formulated around COVID-19, we are confident in the transferability to other emerging diseases and concerns.
