Release of U.S. Government Action Plan to
Support the International Response to COVID-19
FACT SHEET
OFFICE OF THE
SPOKESPERSON
APRIL 16, 2020
In collaboration with U.S. departments
and agencies, the Department of State is releasing the U.S. Government
Action Plan to Support the International Response to COVID-19. Through the American people’s
generosity and the U.S. government’s action, the United
States continues to demonstrate global leadership in the face of the
COVID-19 pandemic. The Trump Administration’s National
Security, National Biodefense, and Global Health Security Strategies prioritize
fighting outbreaks at their source. An infectious disease threat anywhere is a
threat everywhere, and we all must unite to fight this critical global health
security challenge while ensuring we do not detract from the response in the U.S. homeland.
The U.S. Government
is delivering a comprehensive package of services to support our international
partners around the world in combatting COVID-19. Our
“SAFER” package builds on current, substantial, and longstanding U.S. government global health
and humanitarian assistance of over $170 billion abroad over the past 20 years,
which has created the foundation for many international partners to prevent,
detect, and respond to infectious disease threats, including COVID-19. Our
SAFER package will share U.S. expertise for global benefit,
saving lives by improving international partners’ abilities to respond to the
pandemic, while reducing secondary impacts of the pandemic. Together, we will
recover stronger.
The SAFER package is part of an All-of-America approach, leveraging the
unique expertise, capacities, and mechanisms of various U.S. government departments
and agencies to rapidly deploy and deliver essential support when, where, and
to whom it is most critically needed. The focus is to: (1) Save lives by
improving countries’ and international partners’ ability to respond to the
pandemic; (2) Reduce secondary impacts of the pandemic;
(3) Promote U.S. leadership and share U.S. expertise for
global benefit. The United States is a leader in this
worldwide fight to slow the spread of the virus, but it will take global
coordination involving governments, international organizations,
non-governmental organizations, civil society (including faith-based
organizations), the private sector, communities, and individuals to ensure
that, through collective actions, we can achieve the maximum effectiveness and
efficiency of our resources and response effort. We are prepared to help our
international partners combat COVID-19 and will do all we can to ensure a world
SAFER and more secure from infectious disease threats, now and in the future.
The United States is Delivering a “SAFER” and More Secure
World from COVID-19
1.
1.
Scale up community
approaches to
slow the spread of COVID-19, including:
* Widely
disseminate culturally and linguistically appropriate guidance on social
distancing, handwashing, self-isolation and
quarantine, safe home care of infected people, and
support host governments’ ability to do the same through diverse communication
channels;* Set
up community facilities for isolation of mild and moderate cases of illness and
establish COVID-19 hotlines and referral systems;
*
Counteract COVID-19 rumors and
misinformation through coordinated social marketing, social media, and local
news media, including radio;
*
Empower individuals, families, and
communities through health literacy to take responsibility for their own health;|
*
Deploy effective social and behavioral
change strategies; and
*
Support families and communities to safely
and compassionately deal with expected large numbers of deaths from the virus
2.
2.
Address critical needs of
health care facilities
(public and private, including faith-based), health care workers, and patients,
including:
* Assist
hospitals, clinics, and health networks to prepare for surge in health care
facility needs;* Support host governments to coordinate donor responses
to enable rational procurement, distribution, and access to critical COVID-19
medical supplies, including via United Nations agencies and other key
stakeholders;
*
Provide strategies to relieve overburdened
health institutions, such as safe patient flow and teaching safe home care of
infected patients with mild or moderate disease;
*
Implement facility-based infection
prevention and control strategies, including separate areas (tents, gazebos,
etc.) for those with coughs and/or fevers; availability of soap and
disinfectants; and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities;
*
Facilitate continued patient access to
essential health care (e.g., HIV, TB, malaria, immunization, nutrition),
including via humanitarian exceptions for travel restrictions and border
closures;
*
Train health care workers on scaled up
infection prevention and control strategies during a public health emergency;
*
Provide accurate health information to
education, faith, and other community leaders to facilitate trusted uptake of
messages and social practices; and
*
Source, support, and scale high-potential innovations
to meet critical health care needs in both the short-term and medium-term.
3.
3.
Find, investigate, and respond to COVID-19
cases through
expanded disease surveillance and detection, including:
* Increase laboratory
capacity to test for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) and improve
quality control and assurance, as well as safe collection, specimen transport
capacity, and security;
* Support case finding and contact tracing,
leveraging existing in-country digital networks, where possible;*
Strengthen epidemiological surveillance capacity (national, community- and
facility-based);
*
Identify and rapidly respond to COVID-19
“hot spots” and prioritize the most vulnerable, including those in ongoing
pre-COVID-19 humanitarian crises;
*
Improve border health security and points
of entry capabilities;
*
Support development, integration, and/or
strengthening of health information and emergency management systems;
*
Identify risks for COVID-19 and evaluate
impacts of preventive or protective interventions; and
*
Identify risk of additional SARS-CoV-2
spillover from non-human animals.
4.
4.
Employ strategies to address second order
impacts (economic,
security, and stabilization), including:
* Use tailored strategies
in complex humanitarian crises, extremely fragile states, conflict zones, and
high-density population centers;* Provide
support for WASH; food security; protection and security of children, orphans,
displaced persons, and refugees; prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation;
basic health care, including primary care; and coordination of humanitarian
assistance in specific settings;* Encourage countries to develop
and implement government and business continuity plans;
*
Identify potential opportunities to support
the welfare and education of children in high-impact communities;
*
Counteract global competitors’ efforts to
exploit the situation with price gouging and other nefarious activities;
*
Provide macroeconomic support to address
secondary impacts of COVID-19; and
*
Bolster biosecurity and border
security-related infrastructure and procedures.
5.
5.
Ready plans for deployment of therapeutics
and vaccines, diagnostics, and devices, including:
* Develop, pre-position, and support research
protocols for investigational therapeutics and vaccines;*
Support implementation of clinical trials
of investigational therapeutics and vaccines with key partners, including the U.S. National Institutes of
Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Defense, and
the private sector;
*
Work with relevant partners to use
innovative funding strategies to finance low- and middle-income countries’
access to therapeutics and vaccines;
*
Prepare for distribution and delivery of
therapeutics and vaccines once they become available, including through global,
regional, and local supply chains; and
*
Promote local and/or regional capacity to
scale up production and delivery of vaccines and therapeutics once available.
The COVID-19 pandemic is
expected to have adverse impacts across multiple sectors during the next 12 to
18 months, or longer, and may result in longer-term impacts beyond this
timeframe. The U.S. Government must provide a direct and
optimal response in a phased approach (immediate for response, shorter-term for
recovery and longer-term for resiliency) based
on country needs and readiness plans, U.S. Embassy and Mission
requests, and on the epidemiological situation and severity of the outbreak
within each country, recognizing the risk of future waves of the pandemic and
possible re-emergence of the disease, especially in vulnerable populations.
Read
more about the U.S. government’s
international response and assistance efforts online at state.gov/coronavirus, USAID.gov/coronavirus, cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV, and Defense.gov/Explore/Spotlight/Coronavirus/
پیش بسوی قیام سراسری ، ما بر اندازیم# کانونهای شورشی در شهرهای ایران # #Iran
#سال_سرنگونی #ایران #کروناویروس #قیام_تا_پیروزی #coronavirus
اعتصاب واعتراض #شورش #زندانیان ، تظاهرات# سرنگونی #COVID2019 # اتحادوهمبستگی - مرگ_بر_دیکتاتور #مجاهدین خلق ایران
