ICAP

COVID-19

COVID-19 & Emerging Diseases

“When COVID-19 emerged, we realized that we had to pivot to quickly mobilize the resources needed in order to respond to the urgent calls for assistance that we were receiving.”

— Wafaa El-Sadr, ICAP Director

From the moment the first evidence of the coronavirus pandemic appeared in late 2019, ICAP at Columbia University recognized the potentially devastating impact of COVID-19 in many of the countries where it works, countries where health systems are particularly fragile. Building on nearly two decades of experience in responding to the world’s most significant public health challenges and harnessing its longstanding partnerships with ministries of health across the globe, ICAP mounted a comprehensive response to COVID-19 in 24 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas in partnership with stakeholders in each of the countries.

With tens of millions of dollars in funding raised through relentless efforts and a mandate to act quickly in the face of a dangerous and rapidly spreading disease, ICAP directed its teams and these resources to create firewalls of detection, prevention, and response to stand between the spreading virus and the communities in its path.

ICAP’s ongoing response to the continuing pandemic has spanned the gamut of public health activities, including:

  • Training of health workers
  • Standing up emergency operation centers
  • Establishing fever clinics and health brigades
  • Procuring personal protective and medical equipment
  • Identifying new prevention and treatment methods
  • Optimizing infection prevention and control
  • Supporting surveillance and conducting surveys

COVID-19 News

(FORTUNE) FDA Says Antigen Rapid Covid Tests May Be Less Effective in Detecting Omicron Variant

(Gothamist) NYC Public Schools Will Reopen on Jan. 3 With Expanded Testing for Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Students, Staff

(NEWSWEEK) 400 People with COVID Mistakenly Told They Had Negative Test Results Before Christmas

(NEWSDAY) A Year of Lost Opportunities Because of COVID-19? Uncertainty Ahead In 2022

(New York Times) Is It Safe to Have a New Year’s Eve Party?

(NPR) Coronavirus FAQ: Remind Me, How Do You Define Mild, Moderate and Severe COVID?

(TBS eFM) Discussion on the Current Situation in the US with the Omicron Variant

(Vox) Omicron Collides with a Struggling Global Vaccination Campaign

(Today) What Should You Do if You Have Asymptomatic COVID-19?

(Sky News) No One’s Safe Until We’re All Safe: Omicron and Vaccine Equity

(New York Times) Before Even Receiving a Name, Omicron Could Have Spread in New York and the Country

HIV and COVID-19 – When Pandemics Collide

COVID-19 Resources

Managing COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria: matters arising

Antibody testing for coronavirus disease 2019: not ready for prime time

Special Webinar (Archived Recording) – Modeling of COVID-19 and Other Infectious Diseases

Special Webinar (Archived Recording) – COVID in Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa Region: An Update

From Easing Lockdowns to Scaling-Up Community-Based COVID-19 Screening, Testing, and Contact Tracing in Africa – Shared Approaches, Innovations, and Challenges to Minimize Morbidity and Mortality

Special Webinar (Archived Recording) – SARS-CoV-2 serological testing: What is it and what does it mean?

Special Webinar (Archived Recording) – Phone Surveys for Health: Methods and Opportunities

ICAP Grand Rounds Webinar (archived recording): Coronavirus Testing

Special Webinar (Archived Recording) – Africa: Confronting COVID-19

ICAP Grand Rounds Webinar (archived recording): Social Distancing

ICAP’s COVID-19 FAQs

WHO’s Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic Resources