Page 18 - Smart public health emergency management and ICT implementations - A U4SSC deliverable on city platforms

Covid-19 has revealed that the “city of the 21st century” is unprepared to deal with a crisis,
especially a pandemic. There are, however, few exceptions like South Korea which have been
deemed successful by both Korean and foreign officials. This success story is attributed largely
to Korea’s advanced ICT infrastructure and the application of measures developed following the
outbreak of the 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak. These measures, together with
the infrastructure, constitute an effective “infectious disease surveillance system”.

The measures taken now by governments to enforce social distancing have emphasized the role
of open space, curbside walkways, etc. – all of which are critical to improving the quality of life.

Another important discussion is how cities will recover following a pandemic. Historically pandemics
are quite rare. There is evidence (from Toronto 2002) that these pandemics do not simply disappear
but in fact make a comeback, and thus there is a fear of lifting the lockdowns. This brings up the
question regarding the mechanisms that should be put in place to make an SSC a resilient city.

4 A Review of Existing Public Health Frameworks

Table 1: Alternative frameworks for epidemic management

Framework Context Source

1. Preparedness
– Threat analysis
– Pre-emption of attack
– Preparing to respond

– Preparing public information and
WHO guidance framework: communication packages
Public health response to WHO (2004) 40
biological and chemical – Validation of response capabilities
weapons 2. Response

– Response before any overt release
– Distinguish biological/chemical incidents
– Response to biological incidents: risk
assessment; risk management; activity
monitoring; and risk communication

8 U4SSC: Smart public health emergency management and ICT implementations