Comparative analysis of the features of organizing measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the health systems of the Russian Federation and foreign countries

The study analyzed available literatures covering the organization of measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the healthcare systems of the Russian Federation and several foreign countries. For the comprehensive assessment of the specifics of organizing measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, countries were chosen based on geographical distances from China (the closest is Korea, and the most remote are the Great Britain and Haiti), maximum population on their continent (the United States is in North America, and Brazil in South America), and significant differences in the functioning of the healthcare systems. The peculiarities of organizing measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the considered countries were associated with a complex of political, financial, economic, demographic, and organizational factors, the individual combination of which determined the peculiarities of the development of the epidemic process in each specific case. Moreover, as a priority manifestation of the severity of these factors, the capabilities of the healthcare system, including the availability of services of medical workers, sufficient number of testing equipment, medical protection equipment, hospital beds, and other parameters, should be considered. The main role was played by global state strategies implemented in the healthcare systems of the analyzed countries at the pre-epidemic stage and, in most cases, aimed at optimizing the financial and economic provisions of state guarantees of medical care. The general criteria for the differential diagnosis of COVID-19 in the national recommendations of all the states considered were respiratory symptoms and general infectious intoxication. In addition, fever and respiratory symptoms were accepted as priority criteria for COVID-19 screening.