Community approach for the COVID19 pandemic in Quilmes: a case study of Villa Itati

Abstract

Introduction: On 5/24 a COVID19 outbreak in the Villa Azul neighborhood was confirmed and an outbreak mitigation strategy was implemented that also was extended to Villa Itatí given the geographical and social proximity.

Objective: to systematize the community approach that was carried out in the Villa Itatí neighborhood with the aim of mitigating an outbreak of COVID19 and optimizing the prevention and control of new cases.

Methods: a new stage of surveillance and active search for cases was implemented in order to guarantee access to the diagnosis and the recommended isolation measures for the recovery and containment of eventual community outbreaks. An Emergency Operational Committee (COE) with the participation of social and political organizations of the neighborhood, health, safety and community development teams from both the Municipality Quilmes and the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires was created.

Results: As of 8/22, 1,067 cases of COVID19 had been confirmed in Villa Itatí, with a downward trend in terms of the number of cases and daily swabs. The total number of cases doubled every 31 days and the percentage of positivity of the swabs has been increasing gradually until today it is 48% of the total. However, of the total number of cases in Villa Itatí, currently only 62 (6%) are currently infected, the rest of the cases being already recovered people. From the beginning of the approach in Villa Itatí, 2860 close contacts were traced, of which 90% (2577) have already been discharged after having completed 14 days of home isolation.

Discussion: the community approach to the COVID19 pandemic in Villa Itatí made it possible to strengthen the neighborhood organization to comprehensively optimize all available resources in order to take care of the health of the population.