Public-private partnership role during the pandemic: A case of COVID-19 testing in the Republic of Latvia 2020

Abstract

The novelty of this research includes public-private partnerships (PPP) in emergency situations, especially during a pandemic, where there are only a few researched topics. The goal of this study is to answer the following research question: What is the role of PPP in achieving quick and effective COVID-19 testing during a new pandemic in a small country? The methods of this paper are based on a case study approach. In the beginning, a related literature review was done (keywords: public-private partnerships in COVID-19, testing of the COVID-19, health systems during the pandemic). The second step contains data collection about COVID19 in Latvia (2020). Finally, an analysis of the case and data was performed with the conclusion in the result. Results: The average number of tests in 2020 was 2355.99 (interval: 4.00–12,091.00) per day and 2141.73 (interval: 7.67–7365.77) per month. The private sectorconducted around 95.78% per month to check COVID19 infection. Conclusion: The PPP role of COVID-19testing during a pandemic in small countries contains extra resources for rapid and previously not established process organization that allows governments and the public sector to pay attention to other important questions. As a result, collaboration can decrease infection prevalence and mortality.