AfD takes part in efforts towards preventing COVID-19 spread in Afghanistan

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:

  1. Isolation of suspected cases:
    • Suspected cases are to stay at home for 7 days, reducing non-household contact by 75% during this period.
  2. Voluntary home quarantine:
    • In case of identification of a symptomatic case in a household, all household members remain at home for 14 days.
  3. Social distancing of those over 70 years of age:
    • Reduce contacts by 50% in workplaces; decrease household contacts by 25%.
  4. 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%
  5. 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

 

 

 

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