A Covid-19 Response Playbook for Public Health Agencies, Hospitals, and Other Healthcare Providers

As of early April 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019, now known as Covid-19, has broken grim milestones yet to be seen in a generation of infectious disease history. Total confirmed cases of Covid-19 crossed the one million- person mark, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

The U.S. alone has recorded over one quarter of a million confirmed cases and rising. European hotspots, Italy and Spain have each recorded over 100,000 confirmed cases. Other countries like the U.K., Germany, and France were seeing rising counts. And University of Sydney forecasters predicted new coronavirus cases in Australia until July 2020, with a peak in mid-April, contingent on the maintenance of strict social distancing protocols.

Although the overwhelming percentage of people who get Covid-19 only experience mild symptoms, one in six become seriously ill, according to the World Health Organization. Those numbers have carried serious implications for public health practice, as the resultant severe disease has caused hospitalization, even admission to an intensive care unit for weekslong stints.