https:\/\/www.who.int\/publications-detail\/strategic-preparedness-and-response-plan-for-the-new-coronavirus<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nThey call it a Strategic Plan rather than an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).<\/strong><\/p>\nGive it a read.<\/strong><\/p>\nAlso, don\u2019t bother blaming your local politicians for the actions they take, Republican or Democrat \u2013 remember they\u2019re all following a Script that has been internationally agreed upon.\u00a0 Of course there are going to be situations that are unique to certain Countries, and their Governments will have to make appropriate adjustments to the Plan to deal with them.\u00a0\u00a0 Otherwise, everybody is basically following the recommendations outlined in the Plan.<\/strong><\/p>\nHere are some pull quotes I found interesting from the document:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
From page 4\u2026<\/h4>\nRisk assessment<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nWHO assesses the risk to be very high for China, high at the regional level, and high at the global level. <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nFactors taken into consideration include:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n- Likelihood of further spread: Human-to-human transmission, including transmission within families and healthcare settings, has been confirmed within Wuhan, and in several cities outside China. The outbreak continues to grow within China at a rapid rate, and now affects all 31 provincial-level administrative regions. Ordinarily high volumes of domestic and international travel have been increased further by travel linked to Lunar New Year celebrations. Imported cases continue to be reported internationally, with several reported cases of secondary transmission now confirmed in countries outside of China. Limited testing capacity in many countries globally, non-specific symptoms of 2019<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>nCoV acute respiratory disease (the disease caused by 2019<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>nCoV infection), and co-circulation of other respiratory pathogens are factors that can complicate efforts to detect the virus quickly.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
- Potential impact on human health: The virus can cause severe illness and death, although most cases appear to be mild. However, many uncertainties remain, including the full extent of the current outbreak within China, and the full clinical spectrum of illness, including the prevalence of mildly symptomatic cases.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
- Effectiveness of current preparedness and response measures: China has dedicated substantial resources to public health control measures and clinical management, and has taken action that has included the quarantine of cities, and the widespread suspension of transport links between population centres. It will be important to continually assess the extent to which measures are effective and the need to adapt measures as the situation evolves. Up to now, countries that have reported an imported case have demonstrated efficient and effective disease surveillance and response measures. However, some countries are less prepared to detect and respond to an imported case. Rumours, misconceptions, and misinformation disseminated online via social media can have a negative impact on response measures and health-seeking behaviors.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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From page 5\u2026<\/h4>\n
The overall goal of the strategic preparedness and response plan is to stop further transmission of 2019<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>nCoV within China and to other countries, and to mitigate the impact of the outbreak in all countries.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nRESPONSE STRATEGY<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nTaking the above into account, the strategic objectives of the plan are to:<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n- Limit human-to-human transmission, including reducing secondary infections among close contacts and healthcare workers, preventing transmission amplification events, and preventing further international spread from China.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Identify, isolate, and care for patients early, including providing optimized care for infected patients.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Identify and reduce transmission from the animal source.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Address crucial unknowns regarding clinical severity, extent of transmission and infection, treatment options, and accelerate the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Communicate critical risk and event information to all communities, and counter misinformation.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Minimize social and economic impact through multisectoral partnerships.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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These objectives can be achieved by:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n\n- Rapidly establishing international coordination to deliver strategic, technical, and operational support through existing mechanisms and partnerships;<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Scaling up country preparedness and response operations, including strengthening readiness to rapidly identify, diagnose and treat cases; identification and follow-up of contacts when feasible (with priority given to high-risk settings such as healthcare facilities); infection prevention and control in healthcare settings; implementation of health measures for travelers; and awareness raising in the population though risk communication and community engagement.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n- Accelerating priority research and innovation to support a clear and transparent global process to set research and innovation priorities to fast track and scale-up research, development, and the equitable availability of candidate therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostics. This will build a common platform for standardized processes, protocols and tools, to facilitate multidisciplinary and collaborative research integrated with the response.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The response strategy is based on several planning assumptions. Owing to the considerable uncertainty surrounding the extent of the outbreak within China, the transmissibility of the virus, and the clinical spectrum of the disease, it will be necessary to regularly update these assumptions as gaps in our knowledge of the disease are filled. <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nThe current response plan assumes that human-to-human transmission takes place, and that it may be amplified in specific settings, including healthcare facilities. We also assume that human-to-human transmission is widespread within Hubei, and possibly other population centres in China. <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nIt is expected that cases will continue to be exported to other countries while the outbreak continues in China. While the response emphasis will be to rapidly identify and isolate imported cases, there is a risk of clusters of cases caused by localized community transmission outside China. In some cases, countries may require operational assistance to strengthen their capacity to detect and respond to these imported cases. However, there remain significant uncertainties around the potential for more widespread transmission outside China, and it will therefore be necessary to have contingency plans in place to mitigate the challenges this would present.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nFrom page 6\u2026<\/h4>\nPartner coordination<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nTo ensure effective coordination of international partners and stakeholders outlined above at global, regional and country levels, WHO will establish integrated incident management teams at the global, regional and country levels, as required. These teams ensure regular communication between incident managers at different geographical levels of the response, and close operational coordination with national governments, partners across all sectors, and services at all levels. More specific details of the coordinating mechanisms are given below, grouped by partner type and geographical breadth of activity.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nGlobal level<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nThe United Nations (UN) Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) will meet on 4 February, and may decide to activate its standard operating procedures for Humanitarian System<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>Wide Scale-Up Activation \u2014 Protocol for the Control of Infectious Disease Events (April 2019), under which the UN response to the situation would be coordinated by WHO through the mechanisms established under its governance programme. <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nWHO has established an Incident Management Support Team (IMST) together with key operational partners under the leadership of the Director-General. The Director-General will bring together key technical and operational partners to meet on a regular basis to provide updates on the outbreak and take decisions. <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nAt working level, operational partner coordination will be managed through the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), which includes technical agencies, NGOs, and Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations. GOARN will coordinate global work on surveillance, epidemiology, modelling, diagnostics, clinical care and treatment, and other ways to identify, manage, and limit onward transmission of the virus. The GOARN network manager will chair these meetings.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>A) Rapidly establishing international coordination and operational support Global GOARN & EMTs<\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nRegional level<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nWHO regional offices have established regional IMSTs under the leadership of Regional Directors of the different regions. The IMSTs will coordinate the overall preparedness and response in their respective regions under the different functions. The IMSTs at regional level will work closely with the global level IMSTs to mobilize resources to support and monitor the implementation of activities in countries.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nCountry level<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nWHO will work through the regional IMSTs to provide guidance and assist national crisis management authorities to implement: enhanced surveillance recommendations; risk communications for the public regarding trade and travel; management of imported cases; and response to local outbreaks.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nIn countries where the IASC Humanitarian System-Wide Scale-Up Activation for Infectious Disease Events protocols are activated, a Humanitarian Country Team will be established with context-appropriate coordination structures of which the UN contributions and support is coordinated by the UN Resident Coordinator with the WHO Head of Country Office as overall technical lead, if need be supported by a WHO incident manager. Sub-national coordination hubs will be deployed, including space for non-governmental organizations\/civil society involvement, and immediate surge capacity deployments will be requested from IASC member organizations. A package of technical guidance, essential supplies, and operational support will also be provided in such circumstances.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
From page 7\u2026<\/h4>\nRisk communication and managing the infodemic<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nThe 2019<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>nCoV outbreak and response has been accompanied by an \u201cinfodemic:\u201d an over-abundance of information \u2014 some accurate and some not \u2014 that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it. Due to the high demand for timely and trustworthy information about 2019<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>nCoV, WHO technical risk communication and social media teams have been working closely to track and respond to myths and rumours. WHO and partners are working 24 hours a day to identify the most prevalent rumours that can potentially harm the public\u2019s health, such as false prevention measures or cures. These myths are then refuted with evidence<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>based information. WHO and partners are making public health information and advice on the 2019<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>nCoV, including mythbusters, available on social media channels (including Weibo, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest) and organizational websites.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nIn addition, an expanding group of global response organizations such as the United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are coordinating efforts with WHO to ensure that biomedical recommendations can be applied at the community level. These organizations are active at the global, regional, and country level to ensure that affected populations have a voice and are part of the response. Ensuring that global recommendations and communication are tested, adapted, and localized will help countries better control the 2019<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>nCoV outbreak.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
From page 8\u2026<\/h4>\nTechnical expertise and guidance<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nOn 10 January, WHO published a range of information for all countries on how they can prepare for and respond cases and clusters of 2019<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>nCoV, including handling possible cases, how to identify and monitor sick people, collect and test samples, treat patients, prevent onward spread, control transmission in healthcare facilities, maintain adequate stocks of supplies, and communicate with the public about 2019<\/em><\/strong>\u2011<\/em><\/strong>
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