COVID-19

The 2014 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone affected an area which included a pioneering experiment in community healthcare. Oeindrila Dube tells Tim Phillips about the lifesaving impact of this experiment - and two important lessons we can learn that may help to contain the spread of Covid-19 in Africa

A test for the new coronavirus can determine if a person has ever been infected with COVID-19, thereby giving officials a clearer picture of the full scope of the outbreak. Unlike the nasal swab that determines if a person is currently infected, the antibody test, which requires a blood sample, can determine if a person was ever infected even if they didn't know it. While both tests are beneficial, being able to determine what portion of the population has had the virus, including those who were asymptomatic or had mild cases and weren't tested, helps show the extent of the outbreak and who is possibly immune.

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting nearly every person on the planet, threatening lives and economies. Less well appreciated is that pandemics also touch every government. We have already seen vastly different public health responses from governments around the world, ranging from a very relaxed approach in Sweden to total lockdowns of large regions in China and Italy. We also observe great variation in the extent to which governments deploy their legal and constitutional powers to combat the virus.