Table 3.

Major timeline and related health system response in Bangladesh, Nigeria and South Africa

Traits	Bangladesh	Nigeria	South Africa
First confirmed case	March 08a	February 27b	March 05d
Beginning of lockdown	March 23a	March 24c	March 26e
Nature of lockdown	Initially for 10 days, later extended	State by state, partial	Nationwide
Health system response:	● Social distancing and provision of high-risk screening, hospitalization etc. and continuation of essential healthcare ● Bangladesh and South Africa converted specific tertiary hospitals to dedicated COVID-19 facilities; Nigeria made provision for COVID-19 care within existing facilities ● There was no specific MNCH care provision guideline in any of the countries. ● Electronic and print media-based information to raise awareness of benefits of social and interpersonal distancing, appropriate use of face masks and use of hand sanitizers, etc. ● Provision for periodic briefing updates on the pandemic by relevant government agencies/personnel.

^aWorld Health Organization (WHO) Bangladesh

^bNigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)

^cThe Nation (www.thenationonlineng.net); March 24, 2020

^dNational Institute for Communicable Diseases, Govt. of South Africa (www.nicd.ac.za)

^eBusinesstech (www.businesstech.co.za); March 23, 2020