Inoculating Cities: Case Studies of the Urban Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Inoculating Cities: Case Studies of the Urban Response of the COVID-19 Pandemic uses detailed case studies to document and describe how cities located in high, middle and low-income countries responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. City governments and municipal authorities exist and operate in extremely varied contexts (i.e., socioeconomic, demographic, legal and governance, etc.) and intentionally documenting the experiences in these different contexts provides guidance to decision-makers for future preparedness and response activities. This volume highlights the innovative solutions throughout the pandemic as described by the people who designed and implemented pandemic response efforts in their cities. In addition, it identifies successful models that can be adopted in the future by city leaders around the world.

Table of Contents:
List of contributors Introduction Section I Pandemic governance and coordination 1. COVID-19 control strategy and measures in Kawasaki City, Japan Takako Misaki, Tomoya Saito and Nobuhiko Okabe Background Public health and infectious disease control in Kawasaki City The response to COVID-19 in Kawasaki City The responses to domestic clusters of COVID-19 Developing laboratory diagnosis capacities Vaccines and mass vaccination exercises Responding to the first case of the Omicron variant in Kawasaki City Conclusion: lessons learned from Kawasaki City References 2. COVID-19 pandemic: how Lagos State Government managed the COVID-19 pandemic and the tripod of biosecurity Akin Abayomi and Tunde Ajayi Background Background on Lagos, Nigeria Background on the public health system in Lagos Lagos State’s approach to emergency preparedness Governance and policy Coordinating systems Capabilities Resources COVID-19 in Lagos The response to COVID-19 in Lagos The pre-index case response The post-index case response The response to pandemic waves of COVID-19 Lessons learned from Lagos’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic Conclusion References 3. COVID-19 in Beirut: epidemiology, response, gaps, and challenges Nada M. Melhem, Farouk F Abou Hassan and Mirna Bou Hamdan Background The socioeconomic status in Lebanon The health care system in Lebanon The COVID-19 response in Beirut The epidemiology of COVID-19 in Beirut COVID-19 vaccination: successes and challenges The emergence and monitoring of variants of concern Conclusion: successes, gaps and challenges, and the way forward References Further Reading 4. Pandemic governance and community mobilization in conflict: a case study of Idlib, Syria Abdulkarim Ekzayez, Munzer Khlalil, Preeti Patel and Gemma Bowsher Background Background on the public health system in Idlib A bottom-up, locally ed health system in Idlib Background on COVID-19 in Idlib Scaling-up health system capacity using limited resources COVID-19 response in Idlib Community engagement and mobilizing local resources SARS-CoV-2 testing and COVID-19 surveillance Resource-limited digital solutions Vaccination Conclusion References Section II Technology and digital approaches for pandemic response 5. Singapore’s whole-of-nation strategy for pandemic response and vaccination of the population Wycliffe Wei, Bryan W.K. Chow, Marc Ho and Vernon Lee Background Background on Singapore Background on the public health system in Singapore Pandemic response system Whole-of-government crisis response system Legal public health preparedness Surveillance and testing for COVID-19 Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 testing modalities and their adoption Testing of target populations Testing of symptomatic persons Testing of asymptomatic persons: rostered routine testing and expanding PCR testing capacity Testing of asymptomatic persons: extended testing with antigen rapid tests and wastewater surveillance Isolation and medical management of SARS-CoV-2 infections Singapore’s approach to isolation The medical response to COVID-19 Contact tracing and quarantine Vaccination Promoting vaccine uptake Social measures Conclusion References 6. Future-proofing: Quezon City’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as investments against the next epidemic Noel Bernardo, Jaifred Christian Lopez, Esperanza Anita E. Arias and Misha Coleman Background Background on Quezon City, Philippines Background on the public health system in Quezon City, Philippines The response to COVID-19 in Quezon City, Philippines Pillar 1: prevention Pillar 2: detection Pillar 3: isolation Pillar 4: treatment Pillar 5: reintegration Pillar 6: vaccination Utilizing COVID-19 investments to build a stronger urban health system in Quezon City, Philippines Digital solutions and big data management for health Strengthening of surveillance systems Quezon City Health Education and Promotion Unit Conclusion References Section III Workforce and surge capacity 7. Expanding workforce surge capacity and the multijurisdictional response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Las Vegas metropolitan area Fermin Leguen, Cassius Locket and Jeffrey Quinn Background Background on Las Vegas metropolitan area (Clark County, Nevada) The public health system in Las Vegas, Nevada COVID-19 in Las Vegas, Nevada Surging the workforce in Las Vegas Surveillance and testing response: medical surge capacity and the need for increased surveillance and mass COVID-19 testing of the population in Clark County, Nevada Surging capacities to provide medical care and isolation services to those who did not meet hospital admission criteria or have a place to isolate COVID-19 vaccination campaign operations Conclusions References 8. Using mobile financial services to improve community health workers’ efficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dhaka, Bangladesh Farzana Misha, Syed Hassan Imtiaz, Margaret McConnell, Richard Cash and Sabina Faiz Rashid Background Background on Dhaka, Bangladesh The urban health system in Dhaka, Bangladesh COVID-19 in Dhaka, Bangladesh Response measures adopted in Dhaka Community health workers and mobile financial services The introduction of mobile financial services to BRAC community health workers and health service delivery Community health workers and the use of mobile financial services during the COVID-19 pandemic Experiences and challenges in providing financial support to community health workers through mobile financial services Time cost efficiencies due to mobile financial services Conclusion References Further reading Section IV Vulnerable populations and pandemic response 9. Prioritizing local context and expertise in a global pandemic: the New Orleans response to COVID-19 Jennifer Avegno, Kasha Bornstein and Jordan Vaughn Background Historical context of the city of New Orleans Background on public health in New Orleans Background on public health emergencies in New Orleans COVID-19 in New Orleans The response to COVID-19 in New Orleans: reaching the most vulnerable Conclusion References 10. COVID-19, control and confusion: experiences from Cape Town, South Africa Patricia van der Ross Background The public health system in Cape Town COVID-19 in Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town’s COVID-19 response Conclusion References 11. A proactive approach to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the Dharavi Slum, Mumbai, India Paragnimalai Diwakar Madan Kumar, Saravanan Poorni and Zameer Shervani Background Background on Mumbai, India The public health system in Mumbai COVID-19 in India The response to COVID-19 in the Dharavi Slum of Mumbai Administrative efforts Screening and surveillance efforts Quarantine and isolation Publicprivate partnerships Community participation Conclusions References Section V Risk communication 12. Risk communications in a pandemic: tailored communications and public health messaging to urban populations in Baltimore City Letitia Dzirasa, Adam Abadir, Jennifer Martin and Kimberly Eshleman Background COVID-19 risk communication efforts in Baltimore Establishing initial communications: transparency, trust, and tailored messaging Tailoring the message Communication efforts for vaccination campaigns Communications efforts addressing mis- and disinformation Conclusions: lessons learned for effective urban public health campaign References Conclusion Index

About the Author :
Dr. Rebecca Katz is a professor and the director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University. She has more than two decades of public health research experience, much of which has focused on global health security, public health preparedness, and health diplomacy. She has written on the urban governance of disease, the flow of infectious disease risk into and between urban areas and worked with municipal authorities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Matthew R. Boyce is a PhD candidate at Georgetown University and a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Global Health Science and Security. He serves as the head research associate for the Center’s work on urban pandemic preparedness, has advocated for improving health security and public health preparedness in urban environments, and worked with municipal authorities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to support the local response to the outbreak.