Society guideline links: COVID-19 – Community and public health settings (including travel)

Introduction — 

This topic includes links to society and government-sponsored guidelines from selected countries and regions around the world. We will update these links periodically; newer versions of some guidelines may be available on each society's website. Some societies may require users to log in to access their guidelines.

The recommendations in the following guidelines may vary from those that appear in UpToDate topic reviews. Readers who are looking for UpToDate topic reviews should use the UpToDate search box to find the relevant content.

Links to related guidelines are provided separately. (See "Society guideline links: COVID-19 – Index of guideline topics".)

Guidance for certain communities

●International

•World Health Organization (WHO): Safe Eid al Adha practices in the context of COVID-19 (2021)

•WHO: Preparedness, prevention and control of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for refugees and migrants in non-camp settings – Interim guidance (2020)

●Canada

•Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): COVID-19 and people with disabilities in Canada (2023)

•PHAC: Infection prevention and control recommendations for medical evacuation by aircraft of patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 from remote and isolated communities in Canada's North (2020)

•PHAC: Protecting the health and safety of Indigenous communities in close proximity to natural resource operations – Guidance for Indigenous communities (2020)

●United States

•American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): COVID-19 guidance for safe schools and promotion of in-person learning (2022)

•AAP: Guidance related to early care and education/child care during COVID-19 (2021)

●Europe

•European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): Guidance for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in temporary reception centres in the context of the large numbers of people fleeing Ukraine (2022)

•ECDC: Infection prevention and control and surveillance for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in prisons in EU/EEA countries and the UK (2020)

•ECDC: Guidance on infection prevention and control of COVID-19 in migrant and refugee reception and detention centres in the EU/EEA and the UK (2020)

●Australia–New Zealand

•New South Wales (NSW) Health: Aboriginal healthcare workers and settings during COVID-19 (2024)

•Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA): Guidelines for COVID-19 outbreaks in correctional and detention facilities (2022)

Maintaining health services

●International

•World Health Organization (WHO): Critical preparedness, readiness, and response actions for COVID-19 – Interim guidance (2021)

•WHO: Implementation guidance for assessments of frontline service readiness – Strengthening real-time monitoring of health services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (2021)

•International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), WHO and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC): Statement on access to internationally controlled medicines during COVID-19 pandemic (2020)

•WHO: Community-based health care, including outreach and campaigns, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic – Interm guidance (2020)

•WHO: Considerations for implementing mass treatment, active case-finding and population-based surveys for neglected tropical diseases in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic – Interim guidance (2020)

•WHO: Maintaining essential health services – Operational guidance for the COVID-19 context interim guidance (2020)

•WHO: Preparedness for cyclones, tropical storms, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes during the COVID-19 pandemic – Health advisory (2020)

●Canada

•Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): COVID-19 pandemic guidance for the health care sector (2020)

Mitigating spread

●International

•World Health Organization (WHO): Contact tracing and quarantine in the context of COVID-19 – Interim guidance (2022)

•WHO: Public health surveillance for COVID-19 – Interim guidance (2022)

•WHO: Conducting community engagement for COVID-19 vaccines – Interim guidance (2021)

•WHO: Considerations for implementing and adjusting public health and social measures in the context of COVID-19 (2021)

•WHO: Holding gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021)

•WHO: Indicator framework for the evaluation of the public health effectiveness of digital proximity tracing solutions (2021)

•WHO: Key planning recommendations for mass gatherings in the context of COVID-19 - Interim guidance (2021)

•WHO: Operational guide for engaging communities in contact tracing (2021)

•WHO: Preventing and mitigating COVID-19 at work (2021)

•WHO: Advice on the use of masks for children in the community in the context of COVID-19 (2020)

•WHO: Considerations in the investigation of cases and clusters of COVID-19 – Interim guidance (2020)

●Canada

•Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): National surveillance for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) (2023)

•PHAC: Summary of evidence supporting COVID-19 public health measures (2023)

•PHAC: Federal/provincial/territorial public health response plan for ongoing management of COVID-19 (2022)

•PHAC: COVID-19 – Readiness criteria and indicators for easing restrictive public health measures (2021)

●Europe

•European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): Considerations for the use of face masks in the community in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant of concern (2022)

•ECDC: Contact tracing in the European Union – Public health management of persons, including healthcare workers, who have had contact with COVID-19 cases (2021)

•ECDC: Considerations on the use of self-tests for COVID-19 in the EU/EEA (2021)

•ECDC: Interim public health considerations for the provision of additional COVID-19 vaccine doses (2021)

•ECDC: Guidelines for the implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19 (2020)

•ECDC: Population-wide testing of SARS-CoV-2 – Country experiences and potential approaches in the EU/EEA and the United Kingdom (2020)

●Australia–New Zealand

•Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA): National guidelines for public health units on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (2022, updated 2024)

Travel advice

●International

•World Health Organization (WHO): Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) travel advice (2021)

●Canada

•Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): COVID-19 – Travel, testing, and borders (2024)

●United States

•Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): COVID-19 – Travel (2024)

●Europe

•European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): Guidance for COVID-19 quarantine and testing of travellers (2021)

●United Kingdom

•Public Health England (PHE): Guidance on travel abroad from England during coronavirus (COVID-19) (2021, updated 2023)

●India

•Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW): Resources – Travel advisories (2023)

●Australia–New Zealand

•Australian Government Department of Health (DOH): Domestic travel and COVID-19 (2024)

•DOH: International travel and COVID-19 (2024)

Resources for patients — 

The following links provide resources about COVID-19 for non-clinicians. These resources come from select society and government-sponsored guidelines from several countries and regions around the world.

●[International] World Health Organization (WHO): Q&As on COVID-19 and related health topics

●[Canada] Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): COVID-19 – Travel, testing, and borders

●[United States] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): COVID-19 – Travel

●[Europe] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC): Questions and answers on COVID-19 – Travelling

●[United Kingdom] Public Health England (PHE): Guidance on travel abroad from England during coronavirus (COVID-19)

●[Australia–New Zealand] Australian Government Department of Health (DOH): International travel and COVID-19

UpToDate also offers "The Basics" patient education pieces, which are written by the doctors and editors at UpToDate. These are written in plain language, at the 5^th to 6^th grade reading level, and answer the main questions a person is likely to have. (See "Patient education: COVID-19 overview (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 and children (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 and pregnancy (The Basics)" and "Patient education: COVID-19 vaccines (The Basics)".)