This image outlines response measures in COVID-19 containment and mitigation. Activities that help reduce spread of the disease and effectively treat those infected should be in place from the beginning of an outbreak. During the containment phase tracking down contacts of infected individuals is important, but wouldn’t be helpful when there is already extensive spread of the disease in a community. Routine strategies you might use during a typical flu season are also used, and include washing hands, covering coughs, staying home when ill, and making sure surfaces are cleaned. As COVID-19 becomes a pandemic, additional strategies may be implemented, including staying home if a family member is sick, and community measures such as closing schools, mandatory telework and cancelling mass gatherings. These measures will dampen the impact of the pandemic, and improve survival, and delay cases in the hope that pharmaceutical interventions such as antiviral treatments and vaccines will become available.
