COVID-19 in Germany and China: mitigation versus elimination strategy

Guangyu Lu; Oliver Razum; Albrecht Jahn; Yuying Zhang; Brett Sutton; Devi Sridhar; Koya Ariyoshi; Lorenz von Seidlein; Olaf Müller

doi:10.1080/16549716.2021.1875601

COVID-19 in Germany and China: mitigation versus elimination strategy

Glob Health Action. 2021 Jan 1;14(1):1875601. doi: 10.1080/16549716.2021.1875601.

Authors

Guangyu Lu¹, Oliver Razum², Albrecht Jahn³, Yuying Zhang¹, Brett Sutton⁴, Devi Sridhar⁵, Koya Ariyoshi⁶, Lorenz von Seidlein⁷, Olaf Müller³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health, Medical College, Yangzhou University , Yangzhou, China.
² Department of Epidemiology & International Public Health, School of Public Health, Bielefeld University , Bielefeld, Germany.
³ Institute of Global Health, Medical School, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg , Heidelberg, Germany.
⁴ Ministry of Health , Melbourne, Australia.
⁵ Global Health Governance Programme, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, University of Edinburgh , Edinburgh, UK.
⁶ School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University , Nagasaki, Japan.
⁷ Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University , Bangkok, Thailand.

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic shows variable dynamics in WHO Regions, with lowest disease burden in the Western-Pacific Region. While China has been able to rapidly eliminate transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Germany - as well as most of Europe and the Americas - is struggling with high numbers of cases and deaths. Objective: We analyse COVID-19 epidemiology and control strategies in China and in Germany, two countries which have chosen profoundly different approaches to deal with the epidemic. Methods: In this narrative review, we searched the literature from 1 December 2019, to 4 December 2020. Results: China and several neighbours (e.g. Australia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Thailand) have achieved COVID-19 elimination or sustained low case numbers. This can be attributed to: (1) experience with previous coronavirus outbreaks; (2) classification of SARS-CoV-2 in the highest risk category and consequent early employment of aggressive control measures; (3) mandatory isolation of cases and contacts in institutions; (4) broad employment of modern contact tracking technology; (5) travel restrictions to prevent SARS-CoV-2 re-importation; (6) cohesive communities with varying levels of social control. Conclusions: Early implementation of intense and sustained control measures is key to achieving a near normal social and economic life.

Keywords: COVID-19; China; Germany; health policy; pandemic.

Publication types

Comparative Study
Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19 / epidemiology*
COVID-19 / prevention & control*
China / epidemiology
Communicable Disease Control / organization & administration*
Disease Outbreaks / prevention & control*
Germany / epidemiology
Humans
Pandemics / prevention & control
SARS-CoV-2

Grants and funding

We acknowledge funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant no. 71904165] and Jiangsu Provincial Post-Doctoral Funding [Grant no. 2020Z003] which did not have any role in paper design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation or writing of this paper. The corresponding author, Professor Olaf Müller, has had full access to all data, which is publicly available, and has final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.