Standard operating procedures for preparedness and response to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

On January 30, 2020, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China and has continued to expand with reported cases across China and internationally. Rwanda faces a continuous risk of imported outbreaks such as COVID-19 due to high and rapid mobility of people, and increased trade and commerce between Rwanda and countries affected by outbreaks. The primary objective of the international response to the COVID-19 outbreak remains stopping human-to-human transmission of the virus and
caring for those who may become infected. Against this background, the Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Health developed a one-year
National COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan. The proposed interventions are expected to prepare the country to prevent, detect and respond effectively and
efficiently to any potential COVID-19 case. The successful implementation of the interventions stipulated in the plan requires multi-sectoral collaboration and active involvement of all health care providers working in different capacities and at different levels within the health sector. I am delighted to present the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which provide clear direction to enable the different stakeholders to prevent, detect and respond to a COVID-19 outbreak in an organized and timely manner. In this document, a focus has been put on providing SOPs
for surveillance, collecting, handling, storage and transport of clinical specimens from Persons Under Investigation of COVID-19 ; infection prevention and control, case management, psychosocial support, risk communication and community mobilization and data management. We highly recommend use of this document by the response teams and health workers at national, district, health facility and community levels.