Abstract
BackgroundCOVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has evolved into a pandemic. Oyo state, Nigeria with a population of 9,233,010, recorded the first case of COVID-19 on the 12th of March 2020 and it is among the highest contributing States to the nation’s burden of the disease with 3267 confirmed cases, including 40 deaths as of date, with an overall test positivity rate of 18.1%, far higher compared to the National average within a limited period from recorded index case. A ‘Hotspot strategy’ was designed by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and Oyo State was selected to implement the strategy through upscaling case detection, isolation and treatment, quarantine of contacts and strengthening public health and social measures.MethodsWe used a descriptive cross-sectional survey of 3 identified hotspot Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Oyo State using mobile phones under Surveillance, Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS) platform to collect data from October to December 2020. Interventions comprised of enhanced active case search, contact line listing, contact investigation, and contact follow-up as well as to facilitate data collection and entry, community sensitization and management of alert/rumors. Baseline information and that after the 3-month period was then analyzed with the descriptive statistics presented.ResultsThe implementation of the hotspot strategy was shown to have had a major impact in Irepo LGA, where more than a 100% increase in samples tested, confirmed cases, contacts listed and contacts followed were recorded, while there were no significance changes noticed in Ibadan North and Lagelu LGAs. However, test positivity rates among contacts were found to be quite high in Ibadan North LGA (48%), compared to the other two, even though Lagelu LGA (5.7%) tested more contacts than Ibadan North.ConclusionThe observed increase in number of samples tested, cases confirmed, contact listed and investigated as well as test positivity rate in the 3 LGAs after the intervention implies that the hotspot strategy can be said to have contributed positively to the sensitivity of COVID-19 surveillance in Oyo State, Nigeria. This implies that strengthening this ‘hotspot strategy’ may be a key area of focus to improve COVID-19 surveillance sensitivity and response and in turn may help in breaking the transmission and bringing the pandemic to a halt.
Highlights
COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has evolved into a pandemic
Bassey et al BMC Public Health (2022) 22:233 this ‘hotspot strategy’ may be a key area of focus to improve COVID-19 surveillance sensitivity and response and in turn may help in breaking the transmission and bringing the pandemic to a halt
Hotspot strategy came into play in August 2020, after the 2-day Mid-Term Retreat organized by the presidential taskforce and the strategy form an important aspect of the detailed roadmap of key initiatives and activities for improving COVID-19 response in Nigeria
Summary
COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has evolved into a pandemic. Nigeria with a population of 9,233,010, recorded the first case of COVID-19 on the 12th of March 2020 and it is among the highest contributing States to the nation’s burden of the disease with 3267 confirmed cases, including 40 deaths as of date, with an overall test positivity rate of 18.1%, far higher compared to the National average within a limited period from recorded index case. This is about 9 months after recording the index case As at this period, the State ranked 5th among the contributing State to the nation’s burden of the disease and was responsible for 5.1 and 3.8% respectively of all COVID-19 recorded cases and death in Nigeria [3].
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