Estimating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuberculosis in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is responsible for major morbidity and mortality globally. Gains made to end TB in the decade 2010 to 2019 have been at a pace which is predicted to be insufficient to reach global 2035 TB targets. A new disease, Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19), was declared a pandemic in 2020 and is impacting directly and indirectly on health, including TB, with fears and early evidence that it could significantly set back the efforts to end TB. The aim of this study was to estimate losses along the TB care cascade pre- and during-COVID-19 in Cape Town, a metropolitan district in South Africa with high TB and COVID-19 disease burdens.