Report on Webinar Series€¦ · Executive Director, NIDM (Email: [email protected]) Course Chair Dr. Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM Webinar

Report on Webinar Series “COVID-19 Pandemics and

Disaster Management”

2

Report on

Webinar Series “COVID-19 Pandemics

and Disaster Management”

Jointly Organized by

National Institute of Disaster

Management

Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of

India

World Health Organization

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Organizing Team

Patron

Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM

Executive Director, NIDM (Email: [email protected])

Course Chair

Dr. Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM

Webinar Coordinators

Dr. Saurabh Dalal, NPO Emergency, WHO

Mr. Raju Thapa, Young Professional, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM

Webinar Moderators

Mr. Raju Thapa, Young Professional, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM

Dr. Harjeet Kaur, Young Professional, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM

Mr. Anil Kathait, Young Professional, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM

IT support

Mr. Shobhit Sharma, Young Professional, NIDM

Mr. Balaji Ariputhiran, GIS Analyst, NIDM

Mr. Gaurav Sinha, Young Professional, NIDM

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Contents

Sl No. Content Page No.

1

Webinar on “COVID-19: Global and National Perspective –

What we have learnt so far” on 02nd

June, 2020

5 - 7

2

Webinar on “Data Science and Role of Technology” on 9th

June

2020

8 - 10

3

Webinar on "Urban Issues and COVID-19 Management in

Densely Populated Settings” on 16th

June 2020

11 - 14

4

Webinar on "WASH, Infection Prevention and Control including

Biomedical Waste Management” on 23th

June 2020

15 – 17

5

Webinar on "Psycho-social Care and Gender based violence

(GBV) Issues” on 30th

June 2020

18 - 20

6 Way ahead

21 - 26

5

COVID-19: Global and National Perspective – What we have learnt so far

02nd

June, 2020

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) in collaboration with World Health

Organization (WHO) conducted webinar on “COVID-19: Global and National Perspective –

What we have learnt so far” on 2nd

June 2020. The aim of the webinar is to bring together all

the stakeholders in the same platform to analyze and reflect the lesson learnt so far and

integrating knowledge to understand the different aspects of COVID-19 at national and

international levels. Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director, NIDM,

Professor Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM, Dr.

Tran Minh, Team Leader, Health Security and Emergency Response, WHO and Dr. Ritu

Chauhan, NPO IHR, WHO were the key speakers of the webinar that was moderated by Dr.

Harjeet Kaur, YP, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM.

Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director, NIDM in his keynote address stated

that its nearly a century when the similar pandemic (Spanish flu) occurred in 1918 for two year

in three successive stage, but we have not learn our lesson thoroughly. Privatization of medicine

sector has denied the most vulnerable because of the cost involved and public health centre have

been affected right upto the community level. He also highlighted that researchers, scientist,

academician don’t find the right platform to share knowledge and information with policy

makers and limited expertise of the researchers is considered in policy formation and hence there

is a need to consult the academician, researchers, health workers etc to a large extend. Dr. Tran

Minh, WHO highlighted how WHO is working 24*7 to analyses data provide advices,

coordinate with partners, help countries prepare increase supplies and manage experts. He also

provided an insight of corona virus brief history, occurrence, transmission and its control. He

also explained how WHO is putting tremendous efforts on accelerating research and

development toward vaccine development. Dr. Ritu Chauhan, NPO IHR, WHO explained how

COVID-19 pandemic is triggering strong emotions among the Indian population and the

importance of emotional control. She also highlighted stigma induced problems and urged all the

participants to ensure that the facts should be checked for its authenticity. She also emphasized

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on health, safety and moral of health care workers and we have to fight the diseases, not the

workers. Professor Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division,

NIDM highlighted the disaster management perspective of COVID-19 pandemics and stressed

on strengthening collaboration, command, control and communication systems for efficient

prompt graded response and recovery. The webinar was supervised and guided by Major

General Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM Executive Director, NIDM and 260 participants from

various field and states.

Programme Schedule

Session Theme Speaker Duration

Inaugural Remarks Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, ED,

NIDM

10 mins

COVID-19: Global and

National Perspective Dr Tran Minh, Team Leader, Health Security

and Emergency Response, WHO

20 mins

COVID-19 Pandamic:

Communicating the risk

Dr Ritu Chauhan, NPO IHR, WHO

20 mins

Experience with COVID-19

Pandemics

Dr. Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-

Meteorological Risks Management Division,

NIDM

20 mins

Question and Answer Dr. Harjeet Kaur, NIDM (Moderator) 10 Mins

Summing Up and Conclusion Dr. Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-


NIDM

10 Mins

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Photo Gallery

8

Data Science and Role of Technology

9th

June 2020

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) in collaboration with World Health Organization

(WHO) conducted webinar on “Data Science and Role of Technology” on 9th June 2020. The aim of

the webinar is to bring together all the stakeholders in the same platform and get an insight into

the role of technology and data science to anticipate, measure, tract and fight COVID-19. Maj.

Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director, NIDM, Professor Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-

Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM, Dr. Pavana Murthy, NPO, IHIP, WHO and Dr.

Satish Ranjan, KMC Germany were the key speakers of the webinar that was moderated by Mr. Raju

Thapa, YP, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM.

Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director, NIDM in his keynote address

highlighted that organizations, initiatives and networks that support evidence-informed policy-

making can play an important role in providing relevant and timely evidence to inform pandemic

responses and bridge the gap between science, policy and politics. He also stressed upon an

organised form of these aforementioned entities, will brings decision-makers, researchers,

practitioners, civil society groups and other stakeholders together to facilitate the process of

translating evidence into policy and action by aligning research topics with policy priorities,

responding to pressing issues through developing policy briefs, rapid responses and evidence

summaries, and convening dialogues to guide policy formulation and implementation. Dr. Satish

Ranjan, KMC suggested to adopt advance testing, completing tracking and treating otherwise it

will replicate and increase the cases. He also brought to the notice that the limitation of current

technologies to address COVID-19 is limited to testing, tracking and treating. He also stressed

upon Innovation as the need of the hour. He also highlighted the success story of South Korea in

combating the CoVID-19. Just to supplement to his points there is another example of effective

use of data comes from South Korea. The country’s sense of urgency escalated after “Patient 31”

became a “superspreader” and is thought to have caused the rapid rise in cases. Who was later

tracked down with a mobile app, developed by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, South

Korea. It is during times like these that we realize how important data is in everything we do.

Combating this virus will depend upon accurate and timely data that will ultimately help medical

professionals and communities stem this crisis. The systemic impact of this crisis will require the

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curation and use of data to fully understand the financial scope of the crisis and help decision-

makers respond and secure our economy. Let there be no mistake about it, what we do as

researchers, information professionals impacts our businesses, our industries, and our entire

society.

Dr. Pavana Murthy, NPO, IHIP, WHO stressed into enhancing Special Surveillance System (S3),

and gave a detail indepth of Integrated Health Information Platform. He also highlighted the

need for event specific data. Dr Pavana Murthy has rightly pointed out the need for Intersectoral

coordination which is essential for managing large-scale outbreaks. The Intersectoral

coordination and approaches need to be integrated into a new model of governance for health

and well-being that is built around a stronger focus on partnerships, through a whole-of-society

approach, and increased governance coherence, both horizontally across sectors and vertically

through all levels of governance. He further pointed out that health systems preparedness is key

to timely emergency response. We can reduce our nation's risk by preparing our health facilities

and communities to treat the sick and protect the well. In the end, healthcare preparedness is

about saving lives and reducing the long-term health consequences of disasters. Professor Surya

Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM discussed the

innovative technologies helping in the fight against Covid-19. Technology in itself cannot

replace or make up for other public policy measures but it does have an increasingly critical role

to play in emergency responses. Covid-19, as the first major epidemic of the 21st century,

represents an excellent opportunity for policy-makers and regulators to reflect on the legal

plausibility, ethical soundness and effectiveness deploying emerging technologies under time

pressure. Striking the right balance will be crucial for maintaining the public's trust in evidence-

based public health interventions.

The webinar was supervised and guided by Major General Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM

Executive Director, NIDM and about 402 participants from various field and states attended the

webinar.

Programme Schedule



NIDM

5 mins

10


Data science and role of

technology

Dr. Pavana Murthy, NPO, IHIP, WHO 25 mins

Dr. Satish Ranjan, KMC Germany 25 mins



NIDM

25 mins

Question and Answer Mr. Raju Thapa (Moderator) 5 Mins

Summing Up and Conclusion Mr. Raju Thapa (Moderator) 5 Mins

Photo Gallery

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"Urban Issues and COVID-19 Management in Densely Populated Settings”

16th

June 2020


(WHO) conducted webinar on "Urban Issues and COVID-19 Management in Densely

Populated Settings” on 16th June 2020. The aim of the webinar is to bring together all the

stakeholders in the same platform and is to emphasize and translate the urban dimension of the

COVID-19 issues and assess the measures that need to be taken for COVID-19 Management in

Densely Populated Settings in India. Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director,

NIDM, Professor Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM, Dr.

Krishna S. Vatsa, Member NDMA, Dr. Martina Spies, Austrian architect, activist and social designer,

Anukruti, Dr. Saurabh Dalal, NPO Emergency, WHO and Dr. Sachin Rewaria, NPO Training, WHO

were the key speakers of the webinar that was moderated by Mr. Anil Kathait, YP, Geo-Meteorological

Risks Management Division, NIDM.

Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director, NIDM in his keynote address

highlighted that In India, unprecedented urban sprawling already impedes intensification of

complex, urban issues including but not limited to land, water and sanitation. He also mentioned

that Slums in India majorly consist of migrant workers who are engaged is short- and long-term

employment in the unorganized economy which is very sporadic in nature, with constant job

insecurity. The unprecedented lockdown in the country to prevent the spread of the virus may be

well-intentioned but not adequate for this section of the population. While Dharavi is famous as

Asia’s largest slum, there are many other similar or smaller zones spread across the urban

landscape of India where media outreach is minimal, and it is unclear whether the virus has made

its way to those slums. Dr. Krishna S. Vatsa, Member NDMA shared his views in Urban Issues

and COVID-19 Management in Densely Populated Settings. He highlighted that the pandemic

has been treated as a societal emergency, as it should be and as it should continue to be before it

can be contained and, hopefully, treated and cured. Infectious diseases, especially those like

COVID-19, are societal reminders that health and medical research remain as vital as ever. They

serve as a reminder that we as a society are not invincible and have a long way to go in

understanding not only the human body but how it reacts to and manifests different diseases. Dr.

Saurabh Dalal, NPO Emergency, WHO delivered his lecture on “COVID 19 Pandemic Key Lessons

& Management: Urban Settlements. During his lecture he discussed the transmission of COVID-

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19 in Urban Settlements, Slums, and densely populated areas is a major challenge. He also

focused on the Transmission dynamics, Susceptibility and Severity. He also stressed upon the

need for prioritizing the COVID-19 prevention and control in informal settlements and

highlighted the major risk factors for people living in the informal settlements. He also discussed

about the Pilot Urban Slum Survey which was rolled as part of Social Listening System where

the survey questions were developed in consultation with all partners and interagency

involvement, to bring in the holistic perspective and expertise of various agencies to assess the

community risk perception and thought process. Dr. Sachin Rewaria, NPO Training, WHO gave an

detail presentation on “Urban issue & COVID-19: Delhi”. He presented the COVID-19 situation report of

Delhi as on 15th June, 2020. He also discussed number of cases in high burden states, status of COVID-19

cases & death, projected versus actual cases in Delhi, challenges, support from partners and way forward:

health system response. Dr. Martina spies, Anukruti presented her presentation on “Learning from

Dharavi, Mumbai: Challenges and suggestions in the current scenario of Covid-19”. In her

presentation, she stressed upon the challenge as not only to reduce the number of patients but

also to increase the number of discharges. She presented the detail scenario of Dharavi and

mentioned that, “Social distancing is all but impossible, where multiple people live together in

tiny rooms and residents have no option but to rely on public toilets. The strategy for the area

focuses on screening and isolating potential patients. The city formed teams of doctors and

volunteers to go door-to-door checking for people with symptoms. More than 100,000 people

have been screened, Dighavkar said, and nearly 2,500 have been placed in government-run

quarantine facilities. All of Dharavi’s more than 450 public toilets are being disinfected daily.”

Professor Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM

discussed the Preparedness and response to COVID-19 in Urban Settlements. He highlighted

various ways for preparing urban settlements for prevention and control of COVID-19 such as

Institutional mechanism, COVID-19 containment plan etc. He also discussed the response to

COVID-19 outbreak in Urban settlements where he spoke about the trigger for Action,

implementation of Cluster Containment plan, Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI), Risk

Communication, Supervising, monitoring and reporting. The webinar was supervised and guided

by Major General Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM Executive Director, NIDM and about 406

participants from various field and states attended the webinar.

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Programme Schedule



NIDM

5 mins

Urban Issues and COVID-19

Management in Densely

Populated Settings

Dr. Saurabh Dalal, NPO Emergency, WHO 20 mins

Dr. Sachin Rewaria, NPO Training, WHO 20 mins

Dr. Martina Spies,

Austrian architect, activist and social designer,

Anukruti

20 mins



NIDM

10 mins

Question and Answer Mr. Anil Kathait (Moderator) 10 Mins

Summing Up and Conclusion Mr. Anil Kathait (Moderator) 5 Mins

Photo Gallery

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15

"WASH, Infection Prevention and Control including Biomedical Waste Management”

on 23th

June 2020.


(WHO) conducted webinar on "WASH, Infection Prevention and Control including Biomedical

Waste Management” on 23th

June 2020. The aim of the webinar is to emphasize on Infection

Prevention and Control (IPC) measures required in order to be prepared and ready to respond to

an outbreak due to COVID-19 and understanding ways of implementing WHO recommended

IPC interventions. The aim of the webinar is to emphasize on Infection Prevention and Control

(IPC) measures required in order to be prepared and ready to respond to an outbreak due to

COVID-19 and understanding ways of implementing WHO recommended IPC interventions.

Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director, NIDM; Professor Surya Parkash,

Head, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM; Dr. Anuj Sharma, NPO, AMR,

WHO; Dr. Manjeet Saluja, NPO, WASH, WHO; Dr. Pratibha Singh, WASH Specialist -

UNICEF India and Dr Apurva Chaturvedi, Health Specialist, UNICEF India were the key

speakers of the webinar that was moderated by Mr. Raju Thapa, YP, Geo-Meteorological Risks

Management Division, NIDM. Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director,

NIDM in his keynote address highlighted that India has specific rules to deal with biomedical

waste, but the Covid-19 presented a unique challenge before the country where it has currently to

deal with unestimated amount of biomedical waste (BMW) exclusively from dedicated Covid

hospitals, quarantine centres and home quarantine facilities in cities/towns and district/block

headquarters. The task has become all the more difficult as many states lack strict monitoring

mechanism. Best practices for safely managing health-care waste should be followed, including

assigning responsibility and sufficient human and material resources to segregate and dispose of

waste safely. There is no evidence that direct, unprotected human contact during the handling of

health-care waste has resulted in the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. He also mentioned

that all health-care waste produced during patient care, including those with confirmed COVID-

19 infection, is considered to be infectious (infectious, sharps and pathological waste) and should

be collected safely in clearly marked lined containers and sharp safe boxes. This waste should be

treated, preferably on site, and then safely disposed. Dr. Anuj Sharma, NPO, AMR, WHO

highlighted Hand Hygiene as one of the most effective actions we can take to reduce the spread

of pathogens and prevent infections, including the COVID-19 virus. Hand hygiene is the most

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effective single measure to reduce the spread of infections through multimodal strategies,

including access to the appropriate supplies. Dr. Manjeet S Saluja, WHO gave his presentation

on “Achieving WASH at scale: Primary prevention of COVID-19 and other infectious disease”.

He mentioned that WASH is vital to COVID-19 response and recovery. WHO Strategic

Response Plan, Operational GL strategic preparedness and response plan outlines the public

health measures that the international community stands ready to provide to support all countries

to prepare for and respond to COVID-19. He also highlighted the Four main areas of action in

support of Countries to fight against the COVID-19. Dr Apurva Chaturvedi gave deliberation on

‘Infection Prevention and Control during COVID 19 in India’ highlighting the benefits of high

risk group, Infection prevention and control, Triaged system also sharing good practices of

Maharashtra, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal. She also highlighted the collaborative

approach to address physco-social issues during COVID scenario in Gujarat. Professor Surya

Parkash, gave a informative presentation and stressing upon the sustainable development goals

with respect to COVID-19, relevant national guidelines on disaster management, preventive

measures, sanitation and hygines. The webinar was supervised and guided by Major General

Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director, NIDM and about 365 participants from various

field and states attended the webinar.

Programme Schedule



NIDM 5 mins

WASH, Infection Prevention

and Control including

Biomedical Waste

Management

Dr. Anuj Sharma, NPO, AMR, WHO 15 mins

Dr. Manjeet Saluja, NPO, WASH, WHO 15 mins

Dr. Pratibha Singh, WASH Specialist - UNICEF

India 15 mins

Dr Apurva Chaturvedi, Health Specialist,

UNICEF India 15 mins

Question and Answer Mr. Raju Thapa (Moderator) 10 Mins

Concluding remarks Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, ED, NIDM 5 mins

Summing Up and Conclusion Dr. Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological

Risks Management Division, NIDM 10 Mins

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Photo Gallery

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"Psycho-social Care and Gender based violence (GBV) Issues”

on 30th

June 2020


(WHO) conducted webinar on "Psycho-social Care and Gender based violence (GBV) Issues”

on 30th

June 2020. The webinar aimed to emphasize on actions, strategies and recommendations

that can help mitigate the impacts of violence on women & children during this pandemic’. The

webinar also aimed to raise awareness on different forms of gender-based violence and to

encourage the exchange of practical examples of how violence against women can be addressed

by law enforcement. Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director, NIDM;

Professor Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM; Dr.

Atreyi Gangluy, NPO, Psychoscial Care, WHO; Dr. Kiran Sharma, NPO, AHD, WHO and Prof.

Kasi Sekar, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences were the key speakers of the

webinar that was moderated by Dr. Harjeet Kaur, YP, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management

Division, NIDM. Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, Executive Director, NIDM in his

keynote address highlighted that violence against women poses a significant public health

problem in every country. He mentioned that women are the primary caretakers of children and

elders in every country of the world. During situation like COVID-19 pandemic, women take the

lead in helping the family adjusts to new realities and challenges. They are likely to be the prime

initiator of outside assistance, and play an important role in facilitating (or hindering) changes in

family life. Rural women play a key role in supporting their households and communities in

achieving food and nutrition security, generating income, and improving rural livelihoods and

overall well-being. Dr. Atreyi Gangluy gave a detail presentation on “Psychosocial support

during COVID-19”. She highlighted COVID-19, mental health and psychosocial support, UN

Interagency Task Force guidelines on mental health and psychosocial support during COVID-19.

She also discussed about the available psychosocial support and looking after ourselves and

minding our minds. Professor Surya discussed the strategies to prevent and address gender based

violence. He also highlighted chapter XI, section 61 of DM act which deals with prohibition

against discrimination and PM agenda 3 which encourages greater involvement and leadership of

woman in disaster risk management. He also presented various examples of consequences

frequently associated with gender-based violence. Dr. Kiran Sharma gave a detail presentation

on “Gender based violence and COVID-19” giving an in-depth information of Gender-based

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Violence and Violence against woman. She also discussed health consequences of violence,

challenges posed by COVID-19, first line support, linkages that need to be established to support

a survivor. Prof. Kasi Sekar talked about the psychosocial support during the COVID-19

pandemic where he focuses on the biopsychosocial model of health. He also discussed about the

mental illness, causative factors, HRV analysis, and common reactions to the COVID-19

situations. Dr. Saurabh Dalal, NPO Emergency, WHO in his concluding session addressed the

participants and highlighted the successful completion of the 5 webinar series “COVID-19

pandemic and Disaster Management” and also gave indications of road ahead and future

programmes. The webinar was supervised and guided by Major General Manoj Kumar Bindal,

VSM, Executive Director, NIDM and about 365 participants from various field and states

attended the webinar.

Programme Schedule



NIDM 5 mins

Psycho-social Care and Gender

based violence (GBV) Issues

Dr. Atreyi Gangluy, NPO, Psychoscial Care 15 mins

Dr. Kiran, NPO, AHD, WHO 15 mins

Prof. Kasi Sekar, NIMHANS 10 mins

Prof. Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological

Risks Management Division, NIDM 10 mins

Question and Answer Moderator 5 Mins

Concluding remarks Maj. Gen. Manoj Kumar Bindal, VSM, ED,

NIDM 5 mins

Concluding remarks Dr. Saurabh Dalal, NPO Emergency, WHO 5 mins

Summing Up and vote of Thanks Moderator 5 Mins

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Photo Gallery

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Way ahead

The webinar series has received an overwhelming response and has been one of the most

successful events with over 1700 participant attending the webinar. The webinar received very

positive remarks and feedback with high level of appreciation for the distinguished speakers

where it contained seamless coordination and richness in content. The webinar series discussed

in details various aspects of COVID-19 pandemics. Some of the important points that were

highlighted as way ahead are mentioned below.

1. A renewed focus on public health:

Perhaps the most important insight from the global COVID‑19 response to date has been that to

successfully slow transmission and protect health systems, it is essential to accurately diagnose

and effectively isolate and care for all cases of COVID‑19 including cases with mild or moderate

disease. Speed, scale, and equity must be our guiding principles. Speed, because the explosive

nature of the virus means every day lost in implementing effective response capacities and

behaviors costs lives; scale, because everyone in society has a part to play in building the

capacities required to control this pandemic; and equity, because everyone is at risk until the

virus is controlled everywhere in the world: collective resources must be directed to where there

is greatest risk. COVID‑19 is a truly global crisis: the only way to overcome it is together, in

global solidarity.

2. Find, test, isolate and care for cases and quarantine contacts to control transmission

Stopping the spread of COVID‑19 requires finding and testing all suspected cases so that

confirmed cases are promptly and effectively isolated and receive appropriate care, and the close

contacts of all confirmed cases are rapidly identified so that they can be quarantined and

medically monitored for the 14‑day incubation period of the virus.

To achieve this, countries and communities must fundamentally increase their capacity to

identify suspected cases of COVID‑19 in the general population quickly based on the onset of

signs or symptoms. This will require a shift from reliance on existing surveillance networks to

system of rapid, population-level active surveillance. In addition to active case finding in

communities, health facilities, and at points of entry, it will be necessary to enable the general

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population to practice self-surveillance, in which individuals are asked to self-report as a

suspected case as soon as they have symptoms or signs and/or if they are a contact of a

confirmed case. To achieve this shift, countries will need to rapidly scale up their workforce to

find cases, including by looking outside the traditional public health system to train non-public-

health workers, and by using innovative technology such as online applications to enable

individuals to self-report.

Quarantine can be a stressful experience and a significant imposition and disruption to the life of

the quarantined individual and their family. Every effort must be made to support individuals

required to undergo quarantine, including through the provision of basic necessities, income

support, psychosocial support, and health care as needed.

3. Provide clinical care and maintain essential health services to reduce mortality

One of the defining features of COVID‑19 is the huge stress placed on health systems and health

workers by the large proportion of COVID‑19 patients who can require quality clinical care.

Many patients need help to breathe, with outbreaks placing acute burdens on staffing levels,

availability of equipment, and crucial supplies such as medical oxygen, ventilators and personal

protective equipment (PPE). Frontline health workers have had to put themselves in harm’s way

to save lives, and some have lost their own lives as a result.

4. Renewed global strategy to respond to covid‑19:

The overarching goal is for all countries to control the pandemic by slowing down the

transmission and reducing mortality associated with COVID‑19.

The global strategic objectives are as follows:

• Mobilize all sectors and communities to ensure that every sector of government and society

takes ownership of and participates in the response and in preventing cases through hand

hygiene, respiratory etiquette and individual‑level physical distancing.

• Control sporadic cases and clusters and prevent community transmission by rapidly finding

and isolating all cases, providing them with appropriate care, and tracing, quarantining, and

supporting all contacts.

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• Suppress community transmission through context‑appropriate infection prevention and

control measures, population level physical distancing measures, and appropriate and

proportionate restrictions on non‑essential domestic and international travel.

• Reduce mortality by providing appropriate clinical care for those affected by COVID‑19,

ensuring the continuity of essential health and social services, and protecting frontline workers

and vulnerable populations.

• Develop safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics that can be delivered at scale and that are

accessible based on need.

5. Suppressing community transmission

Even with the proactive implementation of comprehensive public health measures, transmission

of COVID‑19 can rapidly become established in countries and subnational regions, with

explosive outbreaks that grow at an exponential rate. In countries and states in which community

transmission has become established, or that are at risk of entering this phase of an epidemic,

authorities must immediately adopt and adapt population-level distancing measures and

movement restrictions in addition to other public health and health system measures to reduce

exposure and suppress transmission, including the following:

• Personal measures that reduce the risk of person-to person transmission, such as hand washing,

physical distancing, and respiratory etiquette;

• Community-level measures to reduce contact between individuals, such as the suspension of

mass gatherings, the closure of non-essential places of work and educational establishments, and

reduced public transport;

• Measures to reduce the risk of importation or reintroduction of the virus from high-

transmission areas, such as limits on national and international travel, enhanced screening and

quarantine;

• Measures to ensure the protection of health workers and vulnerable groups, such as through the

provision of correct personal protective equipment.

Targeted and time-limited implementation of these measures will potentially reduce mortality by

flattening the trajectory of the epidemic and relieving some pressure on clinical care services.

However, these measures are blunt tools with considerable social and economic costs, and

should be implemented with the understanding, consent, and participation of communities, and

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based on the principle of doing no harm. The risks of implementing these measures must be

effectively communicated to the affected populations and communities engaged to own and

participate in them.

6. Coordination and planning

Successful implementation of adaptive COVID‑19 preparedness and response strategies will

depend on all of society being engaged in the plan, and strong national and state coordination. To

provide coordinated management of COVID‑19 preparedness and response, national public

health emergency management mechanisms, including a multidisciplinary national coordination

cell or incident management structure, should be activated, with the engagement of relevant

ministries such as health, foreign affairs, finance, education, transport, travel and tourism, public

works, water and sanitation, environment, social protection and agriculture.

7. Engage and mobilize communities to limit exposure

Slowing the transmission of COVID‑19 and protecting communities will require the

participation of every member of at-risk and affected communities to prevent infection and

transmission. This requires everyone adopting individual protection measures such as washing

hands, avoiding touching their face, practicing good respiratory etiquette, individual level

distancing and cooperating with physical distancing measures and movement restrictions when

called on to do so. It is therefore essential that international, national, and local authorities

engage through participatory two-way communication efforts proactively, regularly,

transparently and unambiguously with all affected and at-risk populations.

8. Adapt strategies based on risk, capacity, and vulnerability

The ability of countries to engage and mobilize communities; find, test, and isolate cases;

provide effective clinical care; and maintain essential health services will differ according to

their capacity and context as well as the intensity and prevalence of COVID‑19 transmission.

The combination of public health measures that should be implemented at any one time will

depend to a large extent on whether there is community transmission, clusters of cases, sporadic

cases, or no cases and the capacity of the public health system.

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Every country must put in place comprehensive public health measures to maintain a sustainable

steady state of low-level or no transmission and have the surge capacity to rapidly control

sporadic cases and clusters of cases.

9. Accelerating research, innovation, and knowledge sharing

Building and expanding on the Global Research Roadmap, WHO is working with partners to

develop a framework for coordinated research and innovation and an overview of the scale of

investments required for financing. Enabling the greatest global good will require solidarity and

collaboration, establishing sufficiently funded, collaborative, cross-agency and public-private

partnerships, and facilitating open data access and information sharing. Support and investment

will be necessary across public, private and philanthropic sectors along with prioritization and

proper stewardship of those resources.

Coordination and the combination of efforts will be critical to collective success. Individual and

isolated action, however dedicated and determined, will not be sufficient to meet the current

challenge of COVID‑19. In order to be successful we will need to pool, build, and pass

innovation from strength to strength. This will require proactive and intentioned coordination

rather than more passive monitoring and reporting of activities.

10. Strengthening pandemic preparedness for the future

With the world facing an unprecedented threat, there is an opportunity to emerge with stronger

health systems, and improved global collaboration to face the next health threat. As we focus on

the immediate response to the COVID‑19 crisis, it is important to keep in mind the breadth and

depth of consequences already being felt across the globe. We must learn the lessons of this

pandemic now and, in so doing, ensure that our response, wherever possible, leaves a lasting

positive legacy, and makes the world of the future a safer place.

11. Upcoming collaborative training programme by NIDM and WHO

The webinar series has received an overwhelming response and has been one of the most

successful events with over 1700 participant attending the webinar. It is proposed to continue

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this collaboration further to develop a collaborative training programme as a take away from this

webinar series.

Documents

Report on Webinar Series€¦ · Executive Director, NIDM (Email: [email protected]) Course Chair Dr. Surya Parkash, Head, Geo-Meteorological Risks Management Division, NIDM Webinar