Background:While discussing the dynamics of the spread of Covid-19 disease and the global trend of the disease morbidity and mortality, District Health Officers (DHOs) have raised a need to explore different measures to augment and implement current central government measures to prevent and control Covid-19 in their respective communities.Rapid Response Question: What measures can district health authorities take to prevent and control Covid-19 within their communities?Findings:The different measures for preventing and controlling Covid-19 in a community should be:⢠Targeted ⢠Non-coercive⢠Transparent⢠Involve public engagement⢠Implemented rapidly and urgently⢠Well timed⢠Of appropriate duration⢠Maximise benefits and minimise harmsThe measures to be considered in controlling and preventing Covid-19 in the community are;⢠Isolation- Identification and isolation of cases- Voluntary home quarantine- Involuntary home quarantine- Institutional quarantineCommunity quarantine⢠Social Distancing- Suspension of events- Closure of academic institutions- Closure of religious services and entertainment places- Changes to funeral arrangements- Adjustments to office work- Suspending public markets- Exploring e-commerce platforms⢠Personal protective measures- Hand hygiene- Face masks- Temperature scanning⢠First contact with health system- Exploit community pharmacists for information, early identification and referral- Information to patients- Symptoms screening- Contact tracing- Laboratory surveillance⢠Communication- General information to the public- Risk of disease- Measures to implement- Public health policy to health workers⢠Other measures- Community disinfection- Augmented intelligenceNo single measure for preventing community spread of Covid-19 can be used in isolation. These have to be combined and timely. These measures are based on lessons learnt from the previous outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MARS) in addition to lessons from the countries that are currently battling with the outbreak of Covid-19. The impact of these strategies is not reported in figures, but is assumed from observations of implementing them.Conclusion:Measures for preventing and controlling the spread of Covid-19 in the community should be targeted, transparent, non-coercive and involve public engagement so as to build trust from the community which increases the communityâs responsiveness and adherence. The measures have to be combined as no single option implemented in isolation can result in effective control and prevention of Covid-19 in the community.
