Critical Factors in Containing COVID-19: Lessons from Selected Countries

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has affected over 190 countries. In responding to the pandemic, countries around the world have developed their own containment strategies, with varying degrees of success: some have achieved nearly total success in containing the disease, while others have seen a constant rise in infections and deaths. The successful countries have evidenced common responses and strategies, linked in large part to a firm commitment by their leaders to confront the pandemic matched by a strong sense of social cohesion by the countries’ citizens. This paper explores five factors that have been critical to the progress achieved in containing the coronavirus in a few selected countries and their lessons for Kenya and other African countries.