COVID-19 Preparedness Checklist For Rural Primary Health Care & Community Settings

COVID-19 is an unprecedented pandemic which has led to millions being affected and thousands dying every day across the world.  The Government of India has announced a 21-day lockdown to prevent COVID-19 transmission in India -essentially buying time for health systems to be better prepared. While tertiary care systems are also being prepared it is important to ensure preparedness of Primary Health Centres.

Towards this mammoth effort, the Indian medical and public health community is contributing in a big way. To ensure preparedness of Primary Health Centres in rural/community settings, 15 clinicians and public health experts from leading institutions, including The George Institute for Global Health, India formed the COVID-19 PHC Action Group. The COVID-19 PHC Action group,  a collaborative is led by Dr Prashanth NS, Institute of Public Health, Bangalore. Dr Soumyadeep Bhaumik from The George Institute for Global Health has contributed majorly to development of the policy resource.

The initial public version was released on 27th March 2020. The current and final version has been disseminated and shared with multiple state governments and other stakeholders.