The epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in the small, low-resource country of Timor-Leste, January 2020 - June 2022

Maria Av Niha; Anthony Dk Draper; Odete da Silva Viegas; Rui M. de Araujo; Josefina C. Joao; Endang da Silva; Ismail Barreto; Nevio Sarmento; Tessa Oakley; Filipe de Neri Machado; Nicholas Ss Fancourt; Ian Marr; Liliana N. Dos Santos Fernandes; Noemia Martins; Paul Arkell; Ari Jp Tilman; Benjamin Dingle; Carlito C. Freitas; Partha S. Bhowmick; Sarah Sheridan; Benjamin P. Howden; Jennifer Yan; Joshua R. Francis; Nelson Martins

doi:10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1

The epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in the small, low-resource country of Timor-Leste, January 2020 - June 2022

Maria Av Niha, Anthony Dk Draper, Odete da Silva Viegas, Rui M. de Araujo, Josefina C. Joao, Endang da Silva, Ismail Barreto, Nevio Sarmento, Tessa Oakley, Filipe de Neri Machado, Nicholas Ss Fancourt, Ian Marr, Liliana N. Dos Santos Fernandes, Noemia Martins, Paul Arkell, Ari Jp Tilman, Benjamin Dingle, Carlito C. Freitas, Partha S. Bhowmick, Sarah SheridanBenjamin P. Howden, Jennifer Yan, Joshua R. Francis, Nelson Martins

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Abstract

Abstract: Timor-Leste, a small, mountainous half-island nation which shares a land border with Indonesia and which is 550 km from Australia, has a population of 1.3 million and achieved independence for the second time in 2002. It is one of the poorest nations in Asia. In response to the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health undertook surveillance and contact tracing activities on all notified COVID-19 cases. Between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2022, there were 22,957 cases of COVID-19 notified which occurred in three waves, the first which was delayed until April 2021 (community transmission of B.1.466.2 variant following major flooding), followed by waves in August 2021 (B.1.617.2 Delta variant transmission) and February 2022 (B.1.1.529 Omicron variant transmission). There were 753 people hospitalised due to COVID-19 and 133 deaths. Of the 133 deaths, 122 (92%) were considered not fully vaccinated (< 2 COVID-19 vaccines) and none had received boosters. Timor-Leste implemented measures to control COVID-19, including: rapid closure of international borders; isolation of cases; quarantining of international arrivals and close contacts; restrictions on internal travel; social and physical distancing; and, finally, a country-wide vaccination program. The health system's capacity was never exceeded.

Original language	English
Journal	Communicable diseases intelligence (2018)
Volume	47
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1
Publication status	Published - 19 Jan 2023

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10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1

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Niha, M. A., Draper, A. D., Viegas, O. D. S., de Araujo, R. M., Joao, J. C., da Silva, E., Barreto, I., Sarmento, N., Oakley, T., Machado, F. D. N., Fancourt, N. S., Marr, I., Dos Santos Fernandes, L. N., Martins, N., Arkell, P., Tilman, A. J., Dingle, B., Freitas, C. C., Bhowmick, P. S., ... Martins, N. (2023). The epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in the small, low-resource country of Timor-Leste, January 2020 - June 2022. Communicable diseases intelligence (2018), 47. https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1

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title = "The epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in the small, low-resource country of Timor-Leste, January 2020 - June 2022",

abstract = "Abstract: Timor-Leste, a small, mountainous half-island nation which shares a land border with Indonesia and which is 550 km from Australia, has a population of 1.3 million and achieved independence for the second time in 2002. It is one of the poorest nations in Asia. In response to the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health undertook surveillance and contact tracing activities on all notified COVID-19 cases. Between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2022, there were 22,957 cases of COVID-19 notified which occurred in three waves, the first which was delayed until April 2021 (community transmission of B.1.466.2 variant following major flooding), followed by waves in August 2021 (B.1.617.2 Delta variant transmission) and February 2022 (B.1.1.529 Omicron variant transmission). There were 753 people hospitalised due to COVID-19 and 133 deaths. Of the 133 deaths, 122 (92%) were considered not fully vaccinated (< 2 COVID-19 vaccines) and none had received boosters. Timor-Leste implemented measures to control COVID-19, including: rapid closure of international borders; isolation of cases; quarantining of international arrivals and close contacts; restrictions on internal travel; social and physical distancing; and, finally, a country-wide vaccination program. The health system's capacity was never exceeded.",

keywords = "COVID-19, Coronavirus disease 2019, Timor-Leste, contact tracing, low-resource setting, surveillance",

author = "Niha, {Maria Av} and Draper, {Anthony Dk} and Viegas, {Odete da Silva} and {de Araujo}, {Rui M.} and Joao, {Josefina C.} and {da Silva}, Endang and Ismail Barreto and Nevio Sarmento and Tessa Oakley and Machado, {Filipe de Neri} and Fancourt, {Nicholas Ss} and Ian Marr and {Dos Santos Fernandes}, {Liliana N.} and Noemia Martins and Paul Arkell and Tilman, {Ari Jp} and Benjamin Dingle and Freitas, {Carlito C.} and Bhowmick, {Partha S.} and Sarah Sheridan and Howden, {Benjamin P.} and Jennifer Yan and Francis, {Joshua R.} and Nelson Martins",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Commonwealth of Australia CC BY-NC-ND.",

year = "2023",

month = jan,

day = "19",

doi = "10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1",

language = "English",

volume = "47",

journal = "Communicable diseases intelligence (2018)",

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Niha, MA, Draper, AD, Viegas, ODS, de Araujo, RM, Joao, JC, da Silva, E, Barreto, I, Sarmento, N, Oakley, T, Machado, FDN, Fancourt, NS, Marr, I, Dos Santos Fernandes, LN, Martins, N, Arkell, P, Tilman, AJ, Dingle, B, Freitas, CC, Bhowmick, PS, Sheridan, S, Howden, BP, Yan, J, Francis, JR & Martins, N 2023, 'The epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in the small, low-resource country of Timor-Leste, January 2020 - June 2022', Communicable diseases intelligence (2018), vol. 47. https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1

TY - JOUR

T1 - The epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in the small, low-resource country of Timor-Leste, January 2020 - June 2022

AU - Niha, Maria Av

AU - Draper, Anthony Dk

AU - Viegas, Odete da Silva

AU - de Araujo, Rui M.

AU - Joao, Josefina C.

AU - da Silva, Endang

AU - Barreto, Ismail

AU - Sarmento, Nevio

AU - Oakley, Tessa

AU - Machado, Filipe de Neri

AU - Fancourt, Nicholas Ss

AU - Marr, Ian

AU - Dos Santos Fernandes, Liliana N.

AU - Martins, Noemia

AU - Arkell, Paul

AU - Tilman, Ari Jp

AU - Dingle, Benjamin

AU - Freitas, Carlito C.

AU - Bhowmick, Partha S.

AU - Sheridan, Sarah

AU - Howden, Benjamin P.

AU - Yan, Jennifer

AU - Francis, Joshua R.

AU - Martins, Nelson

PY - 2023/1/19

Y1 - 2023/1/19

N2 - Abstract: Timor-Leste, a small, mountainous half-island nation which shares a land border with Indonesia and which is 550 km from Australia, has a population of 1.3 million and achieved independence for the second time in 2002. It is one of the poorest nations in Asia. In response to the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health undertook surveillance and contact tracing activities on all notified COVID-19 cases. Between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2022, there were 22,957 cases of COVID-19 notified which occurred in three waves, the first which was delayed until April 2021 (community transmission of B.1.466.2 variant following major flooding), followed by waves in August 2021 (B.1.617.2 Delta variant transmission) and February 2022 (B.1.1.529 Omicron variant transmission). There were 753 people hospitalised due to COVID-19 and 133 deaths. Of the 133 deaths, 122 (92%) were considered not fully vaccinated (< 2 COVID-19 vaccines) and none had received boosters. Timor-Leste implemented measures to control COVID-19, including: rapid closure of international borders; isolation of cases; quarantining of international arrivals and close contacts; restrictions on internal travel; social and physical distancing; and, finally, a country-wide vaccination program. The health system's capacity was never exceeded.

AB - Abstract: Timor-Leste, a small, mountainous half-island nation which shares a land border with Indonesia and which is 550 km from Australia, has a population of 1.3 million and achieved independence for the second time in 2002. It is one of the poorest nations in Asia. In response to the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health undertook surveillance and contact tracing activities on all notified COVID-19 cases. Between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2022, there were 22,957 cases of COVID-19 notified which occurred in three waves, the first which was delayed until April 2021 (community transmission of B.1.466.2 variant following major flooding), followed by waves in August 2021 (B.1.617.2 Delta variant transmission) and February 2022 (B.1.1.529 Omicron variant transmission). There were 753 people hospitalised due to COVID-19 and 133 deaths. Of the 133 deaths, 122 (92%) were considered not fully vaccinated (< 2 COVID-19 vaccines) and none had received boosters. Timor-Leste implemented measures to control COVID-19, including: rapid closure of international borders; isolation of cases; quarantining of international arrivals and close contacts; restrictions on internal travel; social and physical distancing; and, finally, a country-wide vaccination program. The health system's capacity was never exceeded.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Coronavirus disease 2019

KW - Timor-Leste

KW - contact tracing

KW - low-resource setting

KW - surveillance

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U2 - 10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1

DO - 10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1

M3 - Article

SN - 2209-6051

VL - 47

JO - Communicable diseases intelligence (2018)

JF - Communicable diseases intelligence (2018)

ER -

The epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in the small, low-resource country of Timor-Leste, January 2020 - June 2022

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