| 1 | Public health policies and implementation | Low testing rates, particularly, low community case finding and surveillance Scarce epidemiological data on children Limited availability of robust, nationwide, patient-level data Healthcare workers’ risk, personal health and compensation
| GHS to establish routine community surveillance for age groups, including (school) children Maintain central patient registry for case reporting from public and private facilities Use rapid antigen tests to screen for active cases, and antibody tests to assess for past infections in the community PPE, salaries and benefits for healthcare workers should not be compromised; GoG to support responsible agencies while holding them accountable for lapses Healthcare workers to receive subsidised or free care and treatment for COVID-19
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| 2 | Vaccine distribution and uptake | Attaining adequate herd immunity to protect the general population Misinformation on vaccines, including from prominent citizens High vaccine hesitancy and low vaccine acceptance
| Surveillance and hospital data on COVID-19 community hot spots and subpopulations at high risk of severe disease and death should be prioritised Data on vaccine hesitancy in hot spots and among high-risk populations should be urgently collected and used to drive risk communication, vaccine advocacy Misinformation and irresponsible statements by prominent individuals should be swiftly debunked on multiple platforms
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| 3 | Clinical/health facility | High TAT for COVID-19 test results High COVID-19 patient caseload Limited hospital bed space
| Ramp up public lab capacity to handle testing workload, and reduce delays. For example, revenue from mandatory airport testing can be used to support public labs Institute a minimum TAT for COVID-19 tests as a quality measure for labs Engage and compensate willing retired healthcare workers to ease patient caseload during second or subsequent waves Construct more COVID-19-specific facilities (faster to complete); complete construction of district hospitals promised by GoG in 2020
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| 4 | Children and schools | Basic IPC guidance for schools available, but inadequately disseminated/implemented Detecting outbreaks, and guidance for closing/reopening schools in case of outbreaks not available Children and teachers in resource-limited schools left relatively unprotected and exposed, as schools are open
| GES to intensify dissemination of COVID-19 guidance Updated guidance and follow-up for compliance to reinforce infection control GHS to provide consistently age-disaggregated data that include information on paediatric COVID-19 cases and deaths Community surveillance data to inform whether/how schools can stay open, and thresholds for closing and reopening Prioritise teachers for vaccination
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| 5 | Workplace protections | Lack of practical IPC guidance for the workplace Stigma and fear of loss of income driving poor compliance with IPC Poor examples set by political leaders in the workplace
| GoG to provide adaptable guidance for workplace protection Workplaces to provide options for telework/work from home where feasible GoG to ensure that officials and institutions are in compliance with IPC measures; rule flouters should be reprimanded
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| 6 | Media and public communication | Low public trust in political and health officials and agencies Science journalism is often suboptimal; media has contributed to misinformation COVID-19 risk and vaccine communication is poor
| Engage, inform and update the public on strategies taken and progress on their implementation Radio, TV, online and community fora with experts to conduct question and answer sessions with the public Ministry of Information to co-develop and lead strategic communication blitz in partnership with private agencies and individual champions who have public trust
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