National responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have been varied, and have included containment measures such as lockdowns, quarantines, and curfews. As of , cases of COVID-19 have been reported, resulting in reported deaths. The most affected countries in terms of confirmed cases are the United States, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Peru, Mexico, Chile, the United Kingdom, and Iran.
Lockdowns
The pandemic has caused worldwide curfews and similar restrictions (stay-at-home orders, shelter-in-place orders, shutdowns/lockdowns) established to prevent further spread of COVID-19. The pandemic has resulted in the largest amount of shutdowns/lockdowns worldwide at the same time in history. By 26 March, 1.7 billion people worldwide were under some form of lockdown, which increased to 3.9 billion people by the first week of April — more than half of the world's population.
, nearly 300 million people, or about 90 per cent of the population, are under some form of lockdown in the United States, more than 50 million people are in lockdown in the Philippines, about 59 million people are in lockdown in South Africa, and 1.3 billion people are in lockdown in India.
Africa
Ghana
The first two cases of COVID-19 was confirmed on 12 March 2020, when two infected people came to Ghana; one from Norway and the other from Turkey. On 11 March, President Nana Akufo-Addo directed the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, to make the cedi equivalent of $US100 million available to enhance Ghana's COVID-19 preparedness and response plan. The Ghana COVID-19 Private Sector Fund was also initiated to aid in the fight against the pandemic.
Bans and lockdowns
On 15 March, at 10 pm, President Nana Akufo-Addo banned all public gatherings including conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, church activities and other related events to reduce the spread of COVID-19 at a press briefing on the state of COVID-19. Basic schools, senior high schools and universities, both public and private, have also been closed. Only BECE and WASSCE candidates were permitted to remain in school under social distancing protocols. The use of Veronica buckets have become very popular in Ghana following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus as citizens engage in frequent hand washing to stem its spread. On 30 March, the partial lock down of Accra and Kumasi took effect. In April 2020, At a press briefing, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, announced the commencement of local production of nose masks as part of efforts to arrest the spread of the pandemic. According to the new Executive Instrument, E.I. 164, signed by the President on 15 June 2020, people who refuse to wear face masks in public could face jail terms of between four to ten years or a fine of between GHS12,000 (approx US$2,065) and GHS60,000 (approx US$10,320) or both would be made. This came after the mandatory wearing of face masks
Government responses From 3 April, over 464 markets were disinfected across the country. The second phase of nationwide fumigation begun in July. On 23 September, the MoE with GES collaborated with Zoomlion to disinfect SHS across Ghana to pave way for the reopening of schools. The Finance Minister claimed in his report that the Government spent about 54.3 million Ghana cedis to provide cooked and uncooked food to the vulnerable during the 3-week lockdown. He also claimed Government would provide free electricity and water for the rest of 2020.
The Parliament of Ghana granted a tax waiver of GHS174 million cedis (equivalent to US$30 million) on income taxes of frontline workers. This spanned for three months from July to September 2020. On 15 October, the MoH received a COVID-19 AI software for detecting the virus on Chest X-rays. Government also relaunched the GH COVID-19 tracker app after it was launched on 13 April. Various treatment centers were built across the country such as the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre, to help in the National COVID-19 Treatment. Ghana became the first country to use drone aircraft in the fight against the pandemic through the transport of COVID-19 test samples.
Namibia
On 17 March President Hage Geingob declared a state of emergency as a legal basis to restrict fundamental rights. The prohibition of large gatherings was clarified to apply to 50 or more people. Measures such as the closure of all borders, suspension of gatherings were implemented. All public and private schools were also closed for a month. By 14 April, a National lockdown was enforced to all regions in the country.
Access to information and surveillance A COVID-19 communication hotline (0800100100) was established on 15 March 2020 which is run by the Ministry of Health and Social Services and the Centre for Disease Control of Namibia (CDC). The hotline serves to answer general enquiries of the public, assisting persons seeking guidance from the Ministry and reporting possible symptoms or cases of COVID-19.
The Government also announced on 18 March that it will strengthen their communication to the public via various platforms, such as the COVID-19 communication centre operated by NBC, in an attempt to "mitigate and refute misinformation, fear and panic especially from social media". The centre was fully functional by middle April 2020.
With the establishment of a multi-disciplinary Emergency Response team, the Ministry intensified their surveillance in monitoring the situation of COVID-19 in the country, especially at the borders of Namibia. The response team operates 24/7.
Testing Before the confirmation of COVID-19 in Namibia, tests could not be done locally. Test samples were instead sent to South Africa, which accounted for longer than usual waiting times. The Namibian Institute of Pathology (NIP) started testing locally in Windhoek at the end of March 2020. In late April, private laboratory PathCare started testing samples. Namibia was hit by a lack of reagents at the end of April, which slowed down testing however, private testing at PathCare was expensive compared to that of the state (NIP) which offers free COVID-19 tests.
Economic stimulus package An Emergency Income Grant was set up by government to distribute N$ 750 to every person whose income was affected by the pandemic or faced difficult conditions due to the lockdown. Over 800,000 people applied for this grant; 346,000 of them were paid by the end of April.
South Africa
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared that South Africa would undergo a national lockdown, for a period of 21 days, from 26 March to 16 April 2020. This drastic measure was intended to help keep the viral infection rate as low as possible and save lives. On Thursday 9 April, President Ramaphosa announced an extension of two weeks to the lockdown, until the end of April. Exempt from the lockdown are people deemed necessary for the effective response to the pandemic such as health workers, pharmacy and laboratory personnel, emergency personnel, security services, supermarkets, transportation and logistical services, petrol stations, banks, essential financial as well as payment services and those working in industries that can affect the economy when shut down. This include mines and steel mills.
Testing The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) started testing people in South Africa for SARS-CoV-2 on 28 January 2020, and by 7 February had conducted 42 of such tests. State hospitals were offering free COVID-19 testing by mid-March. On 30 March 2020, the government announced its intentions of initiating an enhanced screening and testing programme. By the start of April, 67 mobile testing units had been established and people had been tested, some in drive-through facilities.
Clinical trials, vaccines, and treatment On 17 March 2020, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority announced that it would expedite review of treatments, vaccines and clinical trials. A team from 8 universities and 14 hospitals led by Helen Rees and Jeremy Nel from the University of the Witwatersrand participated in the World Health Organization Solidarity Clinical Trials that investigated medications. A COVID-19 vaccine trial was launched in Gauteng province, towards the end of June 2020 in collaboration with the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford and AstraZeneca. A second vaccine trial was launched during mid August 2020 in collaboration with a US Maryland based biotechnology company, Novavax, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A third vaccine trial was launched in September 2020 by Johnson & Johnson/Janssen.
Other countries and territories
Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Canary Islands Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Morocco Mozambique Niger Nigeria Réunion Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda
Zambia Zimbabwe
Asia China
Due to its zero-COVID policy, China's economy continued to squeeze. However, on 11 November 2022, the government eased the restrictions, while claiming to continue the war against the pandemic. The government reduced the quarantine restrictions from 10 days to eight, where travelers were required to spend five days instead of seven in a hotel quarantine and three at home. Besides, the airlines were also exempted from a penalty for bringing in COVID positive travelers.
India
The Indian government airlifted 324 of its citizens from China on 31 January and 1 February via Air India special chartered flights. After Pakistan's refusal to evacuate its students from Wuhan, the Indian government offered to support them with evacuation along with citizens of other neighbouring countries. On 17 February, India announced a special C-17 Globemaster flight carrying medical supplies to support China in Wuhan and evacuating citizens of India and neighbouring countries. India eventually evacuated 647 people including citizens of Maldives and Bangladesh.
On 15 March, after a video conference of SAARC leaders, PM Narendra Modi allocated ₹74 crore (US$10 million) of funds classified as COVID-19 Emergency Fund for the SAARC countries.
As a precautionary measure, India closed all of its international land borders on 16 March. On 22 March, India locked down places where cases had been confirmed—82 districts in 22 states and Union Territories—until 31 March, although essential services and commodities were to continue. 80 cities including major cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Nagpur, Varanasi and Raipur were also put under lockdown.
On 24 March, the government announced a nationwide lockdown to be in effect for 21 days from 25 March until 14 April. This lockdown included Indian Railways, the biggest employer in India; it was the first shutdown of the trains in 167 years.
Indonesia
Many Indonesians criticised the government for a slow response and downplaying the pandemic. WHO, Australian government, and United States embassy in Indonesia have expressed their doubts about the Indonesian government's response to the pandemic.
The governor of West Sumatra province, Irwan Prayitno faced backlash for accepting 174 tourists from China to the province. 174 Chinese tourists from Kunming arrived at Minangkabau International Airport at Padang Pariaman Regency as Citilink adds Padang – Kunming route. Prayitno received further backlash after welcoming the group of tourists himself at the airport and giving them a "grand welcome" with a cultural parade. The move angered local residents who demanded the governor return the group to China.