Managing COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries

Thepublichealth responseto coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China has illustrated that it is possible to contain COVID-19 if governments focus on tried and tested public health outbreak responses.1,2 Isolation, quarantine, social distancing, and community containmentmeasures were rapidly implemented. In China, patients with COVID-19 were immediately isolated in designatedexisting hospitals,and new hospitalswere rapidly built to manage the increasing numbers of cases in the most affected areas. Home quarantine for contacts was initiated and large gatherings were canceled. Additionally, community containment for approximately 40 million to 60 million residents was instituted. A significant positive association between the incidence of COVID-19 cases and mortality was apparent in the Chinese response.3That is, the rapid escalation in the number of infections in China had resulted in insufficient health care resources, followed by an increase in mortality.