COVID is a new viral disease responsible for a large pandemic that started in December 2019. In partnership with the Department of Public Health, the team assesses the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the pandemic in the region. Mathematical modelling is informing the prediction of the local epidemic to inform resource allocation. Furthermore, the team is leading the multi-centre evaluations of 1) rapid, point of care tests for SARS CoV2 in respect to accuracy, ease of use and cost, in collaboration with FIND, a WHO Collaboration Center and 2) convalescent plasma for therapy of COVID (RECOVER). In addition the team is contributing to various surveillance studies in the region.