The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has not only highlighted the vulnerability of humans to infectious agents and the massive health and economic impact contagious diseases can have on life on planet earth, but also put the global disease burden from tuberculosis into greater perspective [1]. COVID-19 started as a small outbreak in Wuhan, China, soon spread to all continents, infecting more than 150 million people and causing more than 3 million deaths, thereby surpassing the estimated number of annual tuberculosis deaths in 2020, and for the first time in many years, taking the world-wide lead as a cause of death by a single infectious disease [2]. COVID-19 has precipitated major scientific advances, but unfortunately also had a negative impact on the diagnosis and management of other diseases [3].

Even early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Stop TB partnership and others warned of the potential devastating impact the pandemic could have on tuberculosis control [4–6]. The combination of lockdown measures and the shear excess disease burden placed on poorly resourced health care systems in low-and middle-income countries led many to believe that tuberculosis control,