Experience from five Asia-Pacific countries during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: Mitigation strategies and epidemiology outcomes

El Guerche-Séblain, Clotilde; Chakir, Lina; Nageshwaran, Gopinath; Harris, Rebecca C.; Sevoz-Couche, Caroline; Vitoux, Olivier; Vanhems, Philippe

BACKGROUND: With no vaccines or specific treatments, non-pharmaceutical interventions are the only tools for controlling the human-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 disease, which appeared in Wuhan, China last December and has spread globally since. Here we describe and compare the first-wave mitigation strategies and epidemiology of five Asia-Pacific countries that responded rapidly to the epidemic. METHODS: From January to April 2020, mitigation measures and epidemiological data for Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong were screened from official local government websites and a review of investigational studies was conducted. Daily case reports and mitigation measures information were extracted. Epidemiological estimates were calculated and compared between countries. RESULTS: All five countries combined measures, focusing on contact tracing, testing, isolation efforts and healthcare management. Epidemiological data varied temporally and geographically: incubation period ranged 3.9–7.1 days, effective reproduction number at time t (Rt) ranged 0.48–1.5, with intensive care admissions 1–3% of hospitalised patients, and case fatality rates were 0.1–3%. Extrinsic estimates to the virus were lower than global estimates. CONCLUSION: Implemented mitigation strategies in these countries allowed a rapid and successful control or delay of the first COVID-19 pandemic wave. These are valuable examples to inform subsequent waves.