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Countermeasures for Health Care Disruptions During Lockdowns

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2022

Benjamin Chu Yuan Low  and
Patricia Yap-Tan
Benjamin Chu Yuan Low*
Affiliation:
Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
Patricia Yap-Tan
Affiliation:
Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
*
Corresponding author: Benjamin Low, email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Many countries did not have alternative healthcare arrangements during their initial coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdowns. This is surprising as partial and full lockdowns have been previously used to manage terrorism and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak of 2002–2003. This paper examines how lockdowns disrupt normal health care services and discusses countermeasures that can be used during lockdowns regardless of the emergency that engendered them. Solutions for consultations and pharmacy operations are discussed pragmatically with frontline clinicians, health care managers, and policy-makers in mind. Mental health services are used as a case in point with generalizable lessons for other healthcare specialties.

Keywords

(MeSH) continuity of patient careCOVID-19mental health/(Non-MeSH) disruptionlockdown
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e106
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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