Shortly after Zambia reported its first cases of COVID-19 in March 2020, the country’s National Public Health Institute launched intensive, targeted screenings for cases in high-risk populations and locations. In Nakonde, a town on the border with Tanzania, the screenings revealed a huge number of infections.
Officials recorded 400 cases in three days and knew hospital capacity in the area would not be able to handle so many patients at a time.
The northern Nakonde town is a bustling commercial hub with cross-border movement of people and trucks. When the spike in COVID-19 cases hit rural Nakonde, the health authorities widened testing, but as infections rose, threatening to overwhelm the health system, they reached out for a new strategy.
Health officials took immediate measures to avoid severe overstretching of the hospitals. They decided to urgently implement home management of infected patients to take the burden off the health care system and the effort has shown some promising results.
Under the home-based care system, asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic COVID-19 patients under 50 years without underlying conditions or co-morbidities are cared for at home by families with the support of community-based volunteers. There are around 20 rotating clinicians in Nakonde district who oversee the community volunteers
WHO supported the training of community health workers who are now helping to ease the burden of COVID-19 in Zambia’s health facilities.
Guidance for home-based COVID-19 care issued by WHO has been instrumental in shaping Zambia’s strategy, say doctors.