Responding to the Challenge of the Dual COVID-19 and Ebola Epidemics in the Democratic Republic of Congo—Priorities for Achieving Control
Date
2020
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Abstract
Abstract. As of June 11, 2020, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reported 4,258 COVID-19 cases with
90 deaths. With other African countries, the DRC faces the challenge of striking a balance between easing public health
lockdown measures to curtail the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and minimizing both economic hardships for large sectors of the
population and negative impacts on health services for other infectious and noninfectious diseases. The DRC recently controlled
its tenth Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, but COVID-19 and a new EVD outbreak beginning on June 1, 2020 in the
northwest ´Equateur Province have added an additional burden to health services. Although the epidemiology and transmission
of EVD and COVID-19 differ, leveraging the public health infrastructures and experiences fromcoordinating the EVD response
to guide the public health response toCOVID-19 is critical. Building on the DRC’s 40 years of experience with 10 previous EVD
outbreaks, we highlight the DRC’s multi-sectoral public health approach to COVID-19, which includes community-based
screening, testing, contact-tracing, risk communication, community engagement, and case management. We also highlight
remaining challenges and discuss the way forward for achieving control of both COVID-19 and EVD in the DRC.
Description
Keywords
Dual COVID-19, Ebola Epidemics, Congo, Achieving Control