The authors of a new review of international experiences of easing lockdown during the covid-19 pandemic are urging governments to consider a “zero-covid-19” strategy to eliminate domestic transmission, among other measures.1
For their analysis in the Lancet the authors reviewed strategies for easing restrictions in nine high income countries: Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, and the UK.
They proposed five factors to consider when developing strategies to ease restrictions: knowledge of infection levels, community engagement, public health capacity, health system capacity, and border control measures.
At the same time, they expressed concern about the absence of clear and consistent strategic approaches and the significant variation between countries in public health responses so far. They noted, for example that from the start of the outbreak many Asian countries instituted extensive test, trace, and isolation of all covid-19 cases, strengthened by innovative surveillance technology. Except for Germany, these processes have been delayed considerably in most of Europe.
