In any serious disaster a gap develops between resource needs and resource availability. In a severe pandemic this gap will be much worse due to global supply chain disruptions or delays and the fact that governments and aid organizations will be overwhelmed responding to all who need assistance at the same time. Your plan should assume that there will be little or no assistance coming from outside
the municipality.

It is of prime importance that the municipal leaders read, discuss, and study their national, regional/state, and district pandemic response plans to understand:

• What plans are already in place
• What preparedness and response resources are available
• How the municipal level plan fits into the national pandemic response structure

As municipal leaders, you will be responsible for keeping the population healthy, calm, and safe during the 6 to 12 weeks of each severe pandemic wave (remember there could be as many as three waves).  Your actions can determine whether there are many deaths or relatively few.

Click Here to Access PAHO’s Full Report on Disaster Management in a Pandemic

Source: PAHO, 2020 (https://www.paho.org)