While dramatic events of the COVID-19 outbreak are unfolding, local governments must balance maintaining essential services, such as waste collection, home-care, meals and support for the homeless, while managing the closure of libraries, schools, parks, recreation centres, in addition to the shocks to their own workforce. 

Fortunately, stories about how local governments are responding to COVID-19 are being shared on Cities for Global Health. The initiative is being led by Metropolis and ALLIAs. 

For example, this two-page summary from the city of Xi’an in China outlines the medical administration strategy for fighting COVID-19. As of 24th March 2020, 120 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed and 114 of those have recovered. And the city recognises some of its strategies may be useful for other cities experiencing early stages of the outbreak, including:

• Setting up a Municipal Expert Group with 31 experts

• Establishing designated hospitals

• Persuading citizens to stay at home

• Strengthening collaboration between cities, including sharing medical staff

• A positive publicity campaign across all channels to alleviate panic and informing the public (in China, their platforms include WeChat, Weibo, radio, television and social media)

The COVID-19 outbreak has pushed local governments into uncharted territory, but sharing successful strategies between cities through a platform like Cities for Global Health may help other municipal governments better prepare for what’s to come, taking lessons from how the virus has impacted other cities already.

Webinar recording:

City Resilience Stories Webinar Series - COVID-19: Coping, Learning & Building Urban Resilience