tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Commun Dis Intell (2018)
. 2023 Jan 19;47.
doi: 10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1.
The epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in the small, low-resource country of Timor-Leste, January 2020 - June 2022
Maria Av Niha[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Anthony Dk Draper[SUP] 3 4 5 [/SUP], Odete da Silva Viegas[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rui M de Araujo[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Josefina C Joao[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Endang da Silva[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Ismail Barreto[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Nevio Sarmento[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Tessa Oakley[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Filipe de Neri Machado[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nicholas Ss Fancourt[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Ian Marr[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Liliana N Dos Santos Fernandes[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Noemia Martins[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Paul Arkell[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Ari Jp Tilman[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Benjamin Dingle[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Carlito C Freitas[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Partha S Bhowmick[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Sarah Sheridan[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Benjamin P Howden[SUP] 10 11 12 [/SUP], Jennifer Yan[SUP] 1 13 [/SUP], Joshua R Francis[SUP] 4 13 [/SUP], Nelson Martins[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Timor-Leste, a small, mountainous half-island nation which shares a land border with Indonesia and which is 550 km from Australia, has a population of 1.3 million and achieved independence for the second time in 2002. It is one of the poorest nations in Asia. In response to the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health undertook surveillance and contact tracing activities on all notified COVID-19 cases. Between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2022, there were 22,957 cases of COVID-19 notified which occurred in three waves, the first which was delayed until April 2021 (community transmission of B.1.466.2 variant following major flooding), followed by waves in August 2021 (B.1.617.2 Delta variant transmission) and February 2022 (B.1.1.529 Omicron variant transmission). There were 753 people hospitalised due to COVID-19 and 133 deaths. Of the 133 deaths, 122 (92%) were considered not fully vaccinated (< 2 COVID-19 vaccines) and none had received boosters. Timor-Leste implemented measures to control COVID-19, including: rapid closure of international borders; isolation of cases; quarantining of international arrivals and close contacts; restrictions on internal travel; social and physical distancing; and, finally, a country-wide vaccination program. The health system's capacity was never exceeded.
Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus disease 2019; Timor-Leste; contact tracing; low-resource setting; surveillance.
. 2023 Jan 19;47.
doi: 10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1.
The epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in the small, low-resource country of Timor-Leste, January 2020 - June 2022
Maria Av Niha[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Anthony Dk Draper[SUP] 3 4 5 [/SUP], Odete da Silva Viegas[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Rui M de Araujo[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Josefina C Joao[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Endang da Silva[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Ismail Barreto[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Nevio Sarmento[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Tessa Oakley[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Filipe de Neri Machado[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nicholas Ss Fancourt[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Ian Marr[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Liliana N Dos Santos Fernandes[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Noemia Martins[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Paul Arkell[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Ari Jp Tilman[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Benjamin Dingle[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Carlito C Freitas[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Partha S Bhowmick[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Sarah Sheridan[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Benjamin P Howden[SUP] 10 11 12 [/SUP], Jennifer Yan[SUP] 1 13 [/SUP], Joshua R Francis[SUP] 4 13 [/SUP], Nelson Martins[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 36654501
- DOI: 10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1
Abstract
Timor-Leste, a small, mountainous half-island nation which shares a land border with Indonesia and which is 550 km from Australia, has a population of 1.3 million and achieved independence for the second time in 2002. It is one of the poorest nations in Asia. In response to the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health undertook surveillance and contact tracing activities on all notified COVID-19 cases. Between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2022, there were 22,957 cases of COVID-19 notified which occurred in three waves, the first which was delayed until April 2021 (community transmission of B.1.466.2 variant following major flooding), followed by waves in August 2021 (B.1.617.2 Delta variant transmission) and February 2022 (B.1.1.529 Omicron variant transmission). There were 753 people hospitalised due to COVID-19 and 133 deaths. Of the 133 deaths, 122 (92%) were considered not fully vaccinated (< 2 COVID-19 vaccines) and none had received boosters. Timor-Leste implemented measures to control COVID-19, including: rapid closure of international borders; isolation of cases; quarantining of international arrivals and close contacts; restrictions on internal travel; social and physical distancing; and, finally, a country-wide vaccination program. The health system's capacity was never exceeded.
Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus disease 2019; Timor-Leste; contact tracing; low-resource setting; surveillance.