‘It's miraculous' — no known coronavirus cases in Acadiana's homeless shelters

As countries continue to try to contain the coronavirus pandemic, "non-pharmaceutical initiatives" are showing promise as a means to slow the spread. Countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan – all of which enacted travel restrictions, quarantine methods, and social distancing protocols early – have been able to slow the rate of transmission to some degree.

Universities are breeding grounds for COVID-19. In August and September they had to figure out the best way to test, control, and contain a virus on campus. Across the country universities launched a plethora of methods: weekly testing, staggered testing, training student health ambassadors, and even a community court. This article highlights the endeavors of 5 universities.

Rwanda, a country with the same population of Ohio, has emerged as an example of how to slow the spread of coronavirus, with only 1,500 cases reported so far. Besides initiating a lockdown, implementing free testing, and recruiting community health care workers, police, and college students to be contact tracers, officials also used "the same structure, same people, same infrastructure and laboratory diagnostics" that had been working to contain the spread of HIV.

In responding to the coronavirus outbreak, Washington State stands in direct contrast to New York in how local governments responded. While New York relied on direction from politicians, Washington State looked to public health experts to lead briefings and directions – a response that is now emerging as a successful model for building trust with state residents, and inspiring action rather than skepticism.

New Rochelle, New York, took early and strong measures to contain the COVID19 outbreak – closing schools, banning large gatherings, opening drive-thru testing. And while it’s still early, those measures are showing indications of success, slowing the rate of increased cases and moderating the influx of cases on the area’s health care system.

While some places such as the United Kingdom and London struggle to slow the spread of coronavirus, other countries such as China, South Korea, and Taiwan, have managed to contain the virus through fast-acting government regulations. Although each country's strategy looks different – China enacted a strict lock-down, while South Korea implemented widespread testing – they all acted rapidly to intervene.

As much of Europe and the United States are still in the early stages of trying to contain the coronavirus, countries in Asia offer several lessons in mitigation strategies. Rapid government intervention and regulation helped to slow the spread in Taiwan while in South Korea, increased transparency and mass testing – made possible because the country opened the process to the private sector – have shown to have helped flatten the curve of transmission.

Despite the devastation Italy has seen from the coronavirus pandemic, the town of Codogno has been able to largely avoid the same fate. Crediting immediate "drastic containment measures," that went into effect after the initial cases were reported and included adherence to social distancing and other social restrictions, the city has been able to flatten the curve of cases and lift some restrictions.

Situated less than 90 miles from China, the coronavirus outbreak could have been critical in Taiwan, but the country's proactive measures helped to stave off the worst of the disease. Having learned from SARS epidemic, Taiwan had prepared for future situations by creating a comprehensive command center and implementing a transparent communication strategy both of which have helped slow the spread of Covid-19.

Singapore has seemingly been able to contain the coronavirus outbreak by relying on quick actions taken by the government and lessons learned from both the SARS and H1N1 outbreaks that impacted the region years ago. With "ready-made government quarantine facilities and a 330-bed, state-of-the-art national center for managing infectious diseases," the region has yet to see a death from this novel coronavirus despite 96 people identified as infected.