Covid-19 Response
In July 2020, Kyrgyzstan saw one of the fastest per-capita growths in COVID-19 cases of any country in the world. Cases rose more than six-fold, from 5,700 to 35,000, leaving the state-run health system paralysed. Hospitals were overwhelmed and medical staff increasingly fell ill.
At the peak of the pandemic in the summer of 2020, testing sites across the Kyrgyz Republic received up to 10,000 samples a day. Government labs could not keep up with the testing and data, and staff at some facilities worked around the clock to manage the load.
To manage the load, USAID supported an online data management system for COVID-19 testing. Within two months, its partner deployed a COVID-19 module in all 12 testing facilities across the country, equipped some with computers able to run it, and trained medical staff to manage the data.
“Without this system, the country’s testing facilities would have collapsed.”
The Everyday Hero
Throughout the pandemic, Kyrgyzstani civil society organisations stepped in to provide essential services when the government could not. Organisations like Elim Barsynby show that a country with a strong civil society is better able to fill the gaps.
