Meanwhile, The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 9 stated that, “The COVID outbreak is an uneven epidemic at the global level”. Further, With more than 100000 cases reported in 100 countries last week, and the control and prevention of the infection are taking major highlights globally. Following the director’s statement, The fundamental elements of the response are the same for all countries.
- Emergency response mechanisms;
- Risk communications and public engagement;
- Case finding and contact tracing;
- Public health measures such as hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, and social distancing;
- Laboratory testing;
- Treating patients and hospital readiness;
- Infection prevention and control;
- And an all-of-society, all-of-government approach.
Moreover, In his ending statement, he stated, “Let hope be the antidote to fear. Let solidarity be the antidote to blame. Let our shared humanity be the antidote to our shared threat.” Ministry of Health & Family Welfare as on March 9, has reported 43 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across India. In India, nine states which include Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Union Territory of Ladakh, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have reported confirmed cases.
Government of India, has taken measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 by spreading awareness via releasing regular advisories. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW) is promoting good hygienic practices for the public ever since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in India.
These include awareness posters in newspapers with on dos and don’ts. These posters are also doing rounds on several social media platforms in electronic form. The MoH&FW has also released a comic series book named Kids, Vaayu & Corona: Who wins the fight?” for a better understanding of the children regarding the outbreak.
Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, in a review and coordination meeting held at Delhi, said, “Well-coordinated actions between concerned Departments, States, and central ministries, corporation, and agencies, etc. for contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management, developing and managing isolation wards, awareness campaign are the key focus areas which need attention at this hour.
We have to work together to fight the threat posed by COVID-19. He also has advised every state to stay on alert for any upcoming case and be prepared that will help better management of the situation which includes, surveillance, laboratory diagnosis, hospital preparedness, logistic management, capacity building, and risk communication. He also focused on effective contact tracing and preventing community transmission at the level of district collectors. Worldwide, several health research institutes and pharmaceutical companies are coming together to find a preventive and medication for the infection, however, no research has any proven efficacy for human implication.
In a state of such global health crisis with no particular medication discovered and fear of the unknown grappling everyone’s mind, the only way to control the infection is to stop it from spreading and preventing from getting into its contact. Simple safety measures such good as hygienic practices, avoiding public gathering, taking proper medical care of current flu whose symptoms might resemble that of the novel coronavirus infection may successfully provide safety against the virus.
(Author: Ankita Pal, is with Clinical research and Medical writing at Clinstinct Clinical research, Bhubaneswar).
