As US and UK struggle to contain COVID-19, conflict-affected states show encouraging signs in slowing virus transmission – IRC – World – ReliefWeb

New York, NY, October 14, 2020 The International Rescue Committee (IRC) highlights encouraging signs from certain crisis-affected states of slowing COVID transmission, with several African and Asian countries reporting lower daily case counts and lower test positivity rates. The African and Asian continents writ large are both seeing a decrease in new cases, with a slowing of COVID growth with countries such as Pakistan, reporting a test positivity rate of just 1.9% in the last week compared to 22% in June. The IRC remains concerned however about low levels of testing in some places, such as Mexico, northwest Syria, Yemen, and Ethiopia, which continue to obscure the full scale of the outbreak among some of the world's most vulnerable populations.

Stacey Mearns, Senior Technical Advisor of Emergency Health at the IRC says,

"A combination of factors has contributed to the slowing down of transmission of COVID in these countries. Timely government and humanitarian responses to the disease within local communities, including the IRC's, seem to have made a dent in the prevention of further transmission and management of existing cases. On the prevention front, we have provided handwashing stations, intensified provision of water and sanitation services and engaged communities such as Bangladesh where false rumors about disease prevention and symptoms were running rife. In addition, we have trained frontline health workers on COVID-19 protocols, established isolation units as well as equipped hospitals and laboratories with beds, diagnostic kits and other vital machinery. All of this humanitarian response, supported by major donors, may be paying off: we've seen significant slowing in countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, saving thousands of lives and livelihoods in the process. These measures work and with redoubled financial support from the international community, we can see these gains not only last but take hold in other countries. This virus does not respect borders-- beating it in fragile states means helping defeat it altogether."

IRC has noted serious declines in COVID cases and death rates in the following countries of operation:

"These gains are significant but fragile. In countries where we see relatively little testing, such as Afghanistan and Nigeria, we are still unable to fully understand the scale of the outbreak, respond or properly understand what has worked-- even if there are encouraging signs. Having seen some of the benefits of a timely and effective response to COVID-19, more investment from the international community is needed to ensure these gains advance. Transmission is slowing in many countries and we are hopeful that the same continues. We are also looking to continue these services by engaging communities on the importance of adhering to restrictions that can support COVID-19 prevention and the use of PPE. However, in countries like Libya and northeast and northwest Syria, there is still a long way to go before the situation is brought under control. The virus is spreading quickly and the situation is deteriorating rapidly. There is an urgent need to scale up the response to prevent further loss of life."

The IRC has launched a US $30 million appeal to help us mitigate the spread of coronavirus among the world's most vulnerable populations. We are working across three key areas: to mitigate and respond to the spread of coronavirus within vulnerable communities; protect IRC staff; and ensure the continuation of our life-saving programming as much as possible across more than 40 countries worldwide.

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As US and UK struggle to contain COVID-19, conflict-affected states show encouraging signs in slowing virus transmission - IRC - World - ReliefWeb