How Africa Is Leading the World in Corona Response

Although Nebraska’s governor never ordered a statewide shutdown, shuns mandates, and the state’s vaccination rate is not high, the state has had an efficient and effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nebraska has fared among the best in the country when it comes to health, economic, social, and educational factors. The success is due to a combination of solid pre-existing medical infrastructure, particularly in infectious disease, and efficient state government that allowed the state to function logistically without relying on the federal government.

A failed response to the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has helped prepare the country's government and health officials to respond more successfully to the coronavirus pandemic and other public health crises. Several lessons that have proved especially important include the development of a research unit, focusing attention on supporting the community members rather than suppressing the virus, and improving public health communication.

China has seen success in containing the coronavirus through strict governmental oversight but when the virus made its way to Vietnam – a country with similar rule – the government enacted more transparent approaches and relied on social networks to mitigate the spread. Although it is yet to be seen if one methodology was superior to the other, Vietnam's strategy of accountability and transparency has "proved to be effective and furnished positive results."

When Covid-19 cases began to be reported in Washington state, the state government – at the suggestion of local health officials – enacted some of the most stringent restrictions in the nation. Although these actions did not come without trade-offs, in Seattle, the strategy has resulted in "the lowest death rate of the 20 largest metropolitan regions in the country."

When the SARS-CoV-2 variant emerged in the United Kingdom, scientists in Britain were able to quickly identify it and warn other countries thanks to the use of genome sequencing. Now other countries, such as Denmark, are investing in genome sequencing to get ahead of the next potential outbreak.

At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, public health officials in Flint, Michigan began tracking the demographics of those who were testing positive for the virus in order to better align the county's public health action and outreach. In doing so, officials realized that a lack of access to testing in predominately Black neighborhoods was a contributing factor and decided to launch mobile testing, barrier-free sites, and other interventions at the state level.

In March when fewer than 100 coronavirus infections had been found in the U.K, researchers in Cambridge decided to begin sequencing coronavirus samples as part of an "unparalleled surveillance system for Covid" that could identify and track possible mutations or the virus. This effort – which involves labs sending leftover material from testing swabs to the researcher's genomics lab where they are stored and analyzed – has culminated in hundreds of thousands of genome sequences and "sounded an alarm for the world" about the new fast-spreading variant.

Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea have each seen success through their efforts to contain the coronavirus. Using methods such as aggressive isolation methods that include penalties, contact tracing and rapid intervention strategies that were in place from previously dealing with other communicable diseases, the lessons these countries have learned could provide information for countries still struggling to slow the spread.

Unlike the United States, South Korea has seen rapid success in slowing the spread of coronavirus by implementing widespread testing protocols and increasing transparency. Instead of government officials giving updates, public health experts report to the public while throughout the nation pop-up and drive-through testing sites allow for mass-scale testing, all offered free of charge to citizens.

Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan all implemented similar comprehensive public health emergency plans that successfully reduced the spread of coronavirus in each region. Although each country used tactics such as travel restrictions, widespread testing, transparent communication, and quarantine protocols, Taiwan and South Korea are emerging as models for other countries due to the structure of democracy.