Challenges facing COVID-19 in rural areas: An experience from Lebanon

Anthony Kerbage; Marc Matta; Sara Haddad; Pascale Daniel; Lucie Tawk; Setrida Gemayel; Abdallah Amine; Rania Warrak; Myrna Germanos; Fady Haddad; Antoine Geagea

doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.102013

Challenges facing COVID-19 in rural areas: An experience from Lebanon

Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2021 Feb 1:53:102013. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.102013. Epub 2020 Dec 9.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.
² Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.
³ Department of Pediatrics, Bcharri Governmental Hospital, Bcharri, North of Lebanon, Lebanon.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Bcharri Governmental Hospital, Bcharri, North of Lebanon, Lebanon.
⁵ Department of Ophthalmology, Bcharri Governmental Hospital, Bcharri, North of Lebanon, Lebanon.
⁶ Chief of Serology Lab at Hotel Dieu de France University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁷ Department of Gastroenterology, Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic first affected Lebanon on February 21st, 2020, and one month later it reached Bcharri, a small remote town in northern Lebanon. When similar rural areas with under-equipped facilities and financial limitations are affected, outcomes could be catastrophic, raising the need for meticulous preparation and rapid response. In our study, we describe the different measures taken to prepare this town for the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as our rapid response after the first case was confirmed. We emphasize the distinctions and the needs of rural areas when facing such threats, and the importance of a proactive community and local initiatives. We also detail our contact tracing strategy and massive testing campaign, as well as our early management of patients infected with COVID-19. We hope that our experience can be reproducible in areas with similar rural settings, during the COVID-19 pandemic and future outbreaks.

Keywords: COVID-19; Crisis management; Pandemic; Rural health.