Title:Elimination, Containment, and Mitigation of COVID-19: A Personal Story
about International Travels
Volume: 19
Issue: 3
Author(s): Kum L. Hon*Karen K.Y. Leung
Affiliation:
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
Keywords:
COVID-19, masks, social distancing, zero COVID, COVID, elimination, mitigation, containment.
Abstract:
Background: The author and his wife report their unique experience of international
travels during the COVID-19 pandemic, and discuss issues encountered in various countries.
Methods: Narrated discussion of issues encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Discussion: “Zero-COVID” versus “Living with COVID-19” strategies are compared. Children
have unique issues with COVID-19 pandemic. Evaluation of efficacy of the approaches in pandemic
with time should consider the main types of interventions (e.g., border management/quarantine;
physical distancing; mask use; case isolation, testing and contact tracing; vaccination). The key metrics
that can be used to compare the impacts of different strategies between the cities (e.g., cumulative
case rate, cumulative mortality rate, case fatality risk, stringency index, economic performance)
should be identified. Research in these approaches can help manage future pandemics in coronaviruses
and emerging infections. The UK started with very loose mitigation ('herd immunity') and
then switched to a suppression approach in 2021, followed by "living with the virus" approach.
Whereas HK has been targeting towards elimination throughout. In between, countries like Singapore,
Australia and New Zealand have shifted from zero-COVID strategy to living with the virus. It
is easier to have effective social control measures in Hong Kong because it has clear borders and an
authoritarian government, but it did not have a clear exit policy when Omicron spread.
