Global Lessons and Potential Strategies in Combating COVID-19 Pandemic in Ethiopia: Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (CoVID-19) is a rapidly emerging disease that has been classified a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the absence of treatment for this virus, there is an urgent need to find alternative public health strategies to control the spread. Here, we have conducted an online search and summarize the global COVID-19 pandemic situation and recommend potential mitigation strategies in the context of Ethiopia. Result: The most common global COVID-19 mitigation strategies include, whole of government approach including individual, community and environmental measures, detecting and isolating cases, contact tracing and quarantine, social and physical distancing measures including for mass gatherings and international travel measures. Social and physical distancing alone could prevent the pandemic from 60-95%. Moreover, detecting and isolation of cases were found to be crucial while access to testing was found to the global challenge. Individual measures including proper hand washing were also reported to be effective measures in preventing the pandemic. Asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 ranged from 25% to 80% and as a result, countries are revising the case definition for early detection of mild symptomatic cases of COVID-19 with inclusion of Chills, Muscle pain and new loss of taste or smell in addition to Cough, Shortness of breath, Fever and Sore throat. Ethiopia is also unique in the aspects of sociocultural prospects while more than 99.3% of the population has a religion. Moreover, 69% of the population is under the age of 29 years old and the health policy in the country focused on prevention and primary health care. Conclusion: While recommendations may change depending on the level of outbreak, we conclude that in most countries have benefited from early interventions and in setups like Africa including Ethiopia where health system capability is limited, community engagement supported by local evidence with strict implementation of social and physical distancing measures is mandatory. Community level case detection could enhance early identification of cases. Validation and use of rapid test kits could be vital to increase access for testing. Revision of case definitions for COVID-19 could be important for early detection of cases.