On April 2nd the newly established General Assembly to Fight Coronavirus in Herat, held a launching ceremony hosted by the Afghanistan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) in Kabul. AfD’s Country Director, Khushal Nabizada, presented the findings of the study titled: “Impact of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions to Reduce COVID-19 Mortality”, conducted by the Imperial College London. The recommended strategies for preventing and controlling the spread of COVID-19 were evaluated for application in the context of Afghanistan.
The recommended non-pharmaceutical interventions are as follows:
- Isolation of suspected cases:
- Suspected cases are to stay at home for 7 days, reducing non-household contact by 75% during this period.
- Voluntary home quarantine:
- In case of identification of a symptomatic case in a household, all household members remain at home for 14 days.
- Social distancing of those over 70 years of age:
- Reduce contacts by 50% in workplaces; decrease household contacts by 25%.
- Social distancing of entire population:
- All households must reduce contact outside the household, school or workplace by 75%.
- Workplace contact rates will be reduced by 25%
- Closure of schools and universities:
- There must be closure of all schools; only 25% of universities will remain open.
By applying these non-pharmaceutical interventions, the healthcare demand would be reduced by 2/3 and the mortality by half. Khushal Nabizada was honored to attend this meeting and to present the findings of the study.
To read the full article: https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk:8443/bitstream/10044/1/77482/5/Imperial%20College%20COVID19%20NPI%20modelling%2016-03-2020.pdf