(Newsletter: CRVS Insight May (2) 2020)

Limited testing capacity for COVID-19 makes it difficult to assess case numbers & deaths, especially in low-income settings. A new technical package, designed by Vital Strategies, provides guidance on how rapid mortality surveillance can give a clearer picture on total disease burden. The new guidance, Revealing the Toll of COVID-19: A Technical Package for Rapid Mortality Surveillance, builds on existing surveillance and national CRVS systems wherever possible, providing fit-for-purpose guidance for implementation in low- and middle-income countries.

The technical package was developed with technical experts from Vital Strategies and partner organizations that helped shape the package, ensuring clarity, rigor and ease of use: Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative, CDC Foundation, Pan American Health Organization, UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO).