Rapid evidence synthesis on COVID-19 pandemic to inform the Ethiopian Ministry of Health

Abstract

Introduction: At the end of December 2019, Chinese scientists identified a novel coronavirus as the main causative agent for COVID-19, which was declared a pandemic by the WH on March 11, 2020, and had affected more than 1.9 million people. Since this novel infection is overwhelming, the research community has responded promptly to the virus and many preliminary research articles have already been published about different aspects of this pandemic.

Objective: To summarize the best available research evidences on COVID-19 pandemic and to inform the Ethiopian Ministry of Health.

Methods: A rapid evidence review approach was applied to search, appraise and summarize the available evidence on the COVID-19 pandemic. We identified the Population, Concept, and Context with respect to the objective of the review to facilitate searching of relevant articles and unpublished ministry documents. Searching was done on the PubMed database, and Cochrane Library from 01 December 2019 to 07 April 2020. Accordingly, we found a total of 473 studies. By the eligibility criteria, 51 articles are included in this review.

Results: The findings of this review are organized into two major parts. The first part shows the COVID-19 situation in Ethiopia in terms of WHO outbreak scenarios, and readiness of the Ethiopian health system. Though the government of Ethiopia recently adopted different measures, these may not have come in time to prevent the surge of cases. The second part focuses on a review of screening and diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and prevention and control. Current evidence shows COVID-19 is transmitted between people through respiratory droplets and contact routes though the pathophysiologic data is limited.  So far there is no known specific, effective, and proved pharmacological treatment for the disease and the only option of case management is infection prevention and supportive care.

Conclusion: Since COVID-19 is a new disease, much is unknown about it. Researchers and scientists around the globe are undertaking many studies to uncover the hidden facts of this pandemic. As of this time, the available evidence shows isolating, testing, treating, and tracing of new cases along with social distancing measures are effective to control the virus spread.