Considerations for COVID-19 management in reception centers for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, Spain 2020

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2021.12.341Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • COVID-19 management in reception centers for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants

  • Strategies to mitigate COVID-19 in vulnerable refugee populations

  • Outbreak response to COVID-19 in reception centers in Spain 2020

  • Priorities when managing COVID-19 in refugee settings before the vaccines

Abstract

Shortly after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world were urged to leave no population behind. Following a COVID-19 risk evaluation in a refugee and asylum seekers reception center, in September 2020, we considered the priorities of managing COVID-19 in these settings. We encourage actions on the following four fronts to reduce the COVID-19–associated burden among these vulnerable populations based on our interviews, observations, and recommendations: (i) decongestion, (ii) facilitated testing, (iii) screening for symptoms, and (iv) targeted public health and risk communication.

Keywords

COVID-19
migrant reception centers
asylum seekers
migrants
refugees
COVID-19 management

Cited by (0)

Author count justification: This deployment was a large interagency deployment that required the collaboration of all authors listed

The views and opinions presented in this article are those of the authors and do not represent their affiliated institutions.

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Andreas Hoefer and Despina Pampaka contributed equally to this work. Author order was determined alphabetically.