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

Authors

  • Maria AV Niha Ministry of Health, Caicoli, Timor-Leste; World Health Organization, Timor-Leste Office, Caicoli, Timor-Leste
  • Anthony DK Draper Centre for Disease Control, Public Health Unit, Top End Health Service, Northern Territory Government Department of Health, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
  • Odete da Silva Viegas Ministry of Health, Caicoli, Timor-Leste
  • Rui M de Araujo Centro Integrado de Gestão de Crise, Timor-Leste Government, Dili, Timor-Leste
  • Josefina C Joao Ministry of Health, Caicoli, Timor-Leste
  • Endang da Silva Laboratorio Nacional da Saude, Bidau, Timor-Leste
  • Ismail Barreto World Health Organization, Timor-Leste Office, Caicoli, Timor-Leste
  • Nevio Sarmento Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  • Tessa Oakley Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  • Filipe de Neri Machado Ministry of Health, Caicoli, Timor-Leste
  • Nicholas SS Fancourt Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  • Ian Marr Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  • Liliana N dos Santos Fernandes Ministry of Health, Caicoli, Timor-Leste
  • Noemia Martins Ministry of Health, Caicoli, Timor-Leste
  • Paul Arkell Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  • Ari JP Tilman Laboratorio Nacional da Saude, Bidau, Timor-Leste
  • Benjamin Dingle Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  • Carlito C Freitas Ministry of Health, Caicoli, Timor-Leste
  • Partha S Bhowmick World Health Organization, Timor-Leste Office, Caicoli, Timor-Leste
  • Sarah Sheridan National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, Australia
  • Benjamin P Howden Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection & Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Infectious Diseases, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia; Doherty Applied Microbial Genomics, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  • Jennifer Yan Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Paediatric Department, Royal Darwin Hospital, Northern Territory Department of Health, Darwin, Australia
  • Joshua R Francis Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Paediatric Department, Royal Darwin Hospital, Northern Territory Department of Health, Darwin, Australia
  • Nelson Martins Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1

Keywords:

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

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.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Government of Timor-Leste. About Timor-Leste. [Internet.] Dili: Government of Timor-Leste; 2022. Available from: http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=547&lang=en.

World Bank. The World Bank in Timor-Leste: Overview. [Internet.] Washington DC: World Bank; April 2022. Available from: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/timor-leste/overview.

World Health Organization (WHO). WHO Director-General’s statement on IHR Emergency Committee on Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). [Internet.] Geneva: WHO; 30 January 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-statement-on-ihr-emergency-committee-on-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov).

WHO. WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020. [Internet.] Geneva: WHO; 11 March 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020.

Government of Timor-Leste, 2020. Jornal da República – Publicação Oficial da República Democrática de Timor-Leste. Numero Extraordinario. Diploma Ministerial N.º 14 /2020 de 31 de Março. Estabelece a sala de situação do Centro Integrado de Gestão de Crises. Dili: Government of Timor-Leste; 31 March 2020. Available from: https://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/public/docs/2020/serie_1/SERIE_I_NO_13_C.pdf.

Martins N. Estratejia ba Prevensaun no Mitigasaun Surtu Covid-19 iha Timor Leste. [Oral presentation at Universidade da Paz, Dili, Timor-Leste,19 December 2020.] Transcript available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350006753_Estratejia_ba_Prevensaun_no_Mitigasaun_Surtu_Covid-19_iha_Timor_Leste.

Government of Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste begins national vaccination plan against COVID-19. [Internet.] Dili: Government of Timor-Leste; 7 April 2021. Available from: http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=27573&lang=en.

Timor-Leste Ministry of Health. National Guidance on Surveillance and Contact Management of COVID-19 for Timor-Leste. Dili: Government of Timor-Leste, Ministry of Health; 2020.

WHO. Public health surveillance for COVID-19. Interim guidance: 16 December 2020. Geneva: WHO; 16 December 2020. Available from: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/337897/WHO-2019-nCoV-SurveillanceGuidance-2020.8-eng.pdf.

Government of Timor-Leste. Jornal da República – Publicação Oficial da República Democrática de Timor-Leste. Numero Extraordinario. Diploma Ministerial N.º 42 /2021 de 12 de Julho. Define as regras de cumprimento do isolamento terapêutico obrigatório na residência. Dili: Government of Timor-Leste; 12 July 2021. Available from: http://timor-leste.gov.tl/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SERIE-I-N.-28-C1.pdf.

Government of Timor-Leste, 2021. Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Ministers of March 8th, 2021. [Internet.] Dili: Government of Timor-Leste; 8 March 2021. Accessed from: http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=27134&lang=en.

Government of Timor-Leste, Office of the Prime Minister. Timor-Leste declares the State of Calamity. [Internet.] Dili: Government of Timor-Leste, Primeiro Ministro; 9 April 2021. Accessed from: https://www.gpm.gov.tl/en/timor-leste-iha-estadu-kalamidade/.

Zhu M, Zeng Q, Saputro BIL, Chew SP, Chew I, Frendy H et al. Tracking the molecular evolution and transmission patterns of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.466.2 in Indonesia based on genomic surveillance data. Virol J. 2022;19(1):103. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-022-01830-1.

Government of Timor-Leste. Jornal da República – Publicação Oficial da República Democrática de Timor-Leste. Numero Extraordinario. Diploma Ministerial Serie I, N.º 12A/2022 de 17 de Março. Decreto-Lei N.º 12/2022 de 17 de Março. Dili: Government of Timor-Leste; 17 March 2022. Available from: https://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/public/docs/2022/serie_1/SERIE_I_NO_12_A.pdf.

WHO Indonesia. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report – 92. Jakarta: WHO Indonesia; 13 July 2022. Available from: https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/searo/indonesia/covid19/external-situation-report-92_13-july-2022.pdf.

Government of Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste em Números / Timor-Leste in Figures: 6th edition, 2015. Dili: Government of Timor-Leste, General Directorate of Statistics; October 2015. Available from: https://www.statistics.gov.tl/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Timor-Leste-em-Numeros-20151.pdf.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Indonesia. UNFPA Indonesia Monograph Series: No. 1: Indonesia on the Threshold of Population Ageing. July 2014. Jakarta: UNFPA Indonesia; July 2014. Available online from: https://indonesia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/BUKU_Monograph_No1_Ageing_03_Low-res.pdf.

Downloads

Published

19/01/23

How to Cite

Niha, Maria AV, Anthony DK Draper, Odete da Silva Viegas, Rui M de Araujo, Josefina C Joao, Endang da Silva, Ismail Barreto, et al. 2023. “The Epidemiology of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Small, Low-Resource Country of Timor-Leste, January 2020 – June 2022”. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 47 (January). https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2023.47.1.

Issue

Vol. 47 (2023)

Section

Short report

Categories

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Communicable Diseases Intelligence

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>