Essay Example on Coronavirus: A Century-Old Pandemic Re-emerges to Challenge Humanity

Introduction

Nearly a century after the Spanish flu pandemic, coronavirus has caught the world's healthcare system off-guard again. The disease originated in Wuhan province in China and rapidly spread across the world causing public panic and shutting down economies that have run continuously for the past century. Up to date, little is known of the contagious disease that continues to threaten human existence and sustainability. The disease is caused by the coronavirus, which scientists have traced its origin in bats. The illness spreads through contact with an infected person's respiratory fluids. In severe cases, the pandemic affects the lungs' ability to collect oxygen leading to death. Noticeably, scientists are yet to discover any scientific cure or vaccine. Preventative measures such as social distancing, isolation, quarantine, regular hand washing and sanitizing, stay-home-orders, and lockdowns have been implemented across the globe to prevent its spread. Nevertheless, healthcare systems have been functioning continuously to prevent the spread, manage, and find a possible cure for the pandemic. Notably, more research is needed on the illness to facilitate healthcare leaders to battle future infectious disease pandemics such as chickenpox and influenza. Given the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has tested the universal healthcare system to its limits, an adequate understanding of the pandemic will aid healthcare leaders to manage future contagious diseases, especially on matters such as affordable and free healthcare, developing vaccines and cures, isolation, quarantine, and public immunization.

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Scope of Issue

Background

Coronavirus disease is a contagious illness that is caused by the coronavirus, which was discovered in 2019. It is in the family of respiratory disease, which includes the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV), common cold, and Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SERS-CoV) ("Coronavirus," 2020). Scientists have traced the origin of coronaviruses to animals albeit they have the capability of transferring from animals to humans in a spillover event (Novel, 2020). Noticeably, some of the viruses have not infected humans yet. In the wake of the 21st century, scientists discovered that bats carried the coronavirus. In December 2019, China notified the World Health Organization of an abnormal pneumonia Wuhan province. Genetic investigations and analysis of the coronavirus in late December showed that there was a spillover of the virus from animals in the last quarter of 2019. WHO discovered that a large population of the initial cases of the COVID-19 virus had a direct connection with the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market in Wuhan ("Coronavirus disease," 2020). The market supplied domestic, wild, and seafood animals to the city. Notably, the first patients were market employees, traders, visitors, and stall owners.

Symptoms

The disease's symptoms are like those of other colds, which might be challenging for people to identify they have the disease. Infected people are likely to experience persistent dry coughs, fever, sore throat, shortness of breath, and pressure or pain in the chest ("Symptoms of Coronavirus," 2020). Other symptoms might include exhaustion, runny nose, and aches. The symptoms manifest between two to fourteen days after exposure to the virus, which has an incubation period of 14 days (Novel, 2020). Noticeably, the disease is spread through contact with an infected person's respiratory fluids. Additionally, some people may report the loss of smell or taste. According to Guan et al. (2020), the severity of the symptoms can range from mild to severe, while others report no signs. Elderly people or those with underlying chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart, and lung diseases are more susceptible to severe illness. The severity of the disease is also observed in other respiratory pandemics such as influenza ("Symptoms of Coronavirus," 2020). If an individual has the above symptoms, they are advised to visit a health facility to get medical advice.

Prevention

The disease spread by coming onto contact with an infected person's respiratory fluids. WHO introduced several guidelines to help people avoid contracting the virus through social distancing and high hygiene standards ("Coronavirus disease" 2020). Firstly, a social distancing of about 1.8 meters is recommended to prevent contact with respiratory fluids, especially while among people who are coughing or sneezing. In response to the guideline, many nations have imposed emergency rules to ensure that their citizens adhere to social distancing. Secondly, regular washing of hands and sanitizing for about 20 seconds is recommended to kill the virus ("Coronavirus," 2020). Noticeably, coronavirus can remain on surfaces for several days, which escalates the risk of contracting the infection, especially at work or in public transport. Additionally, the virus is made of a lipid layer, which is easily destroyed by soap; therefore, regular hand washing and disinfecting surfaces kill the virus, enhancing prevention. People can also avoid the virus by not touching their mouths, eyes, and face ("Coronavirus," 2020). Thirdly, the isolation of persons who have to meet an infected person is necessary to halt the spread of the virus during its incubation phase. If individual tests positive for the virus, their close contacts are tracked and kept in isolation for a minimum of two weeks ("Coronavirus," 2020). During the period, the isolated persons are observed for any symptoms and tested again after fourteen days.

Fourthly, quarantine of those that have tested positive is necessary to ensure that the disease does not spread others ("Coronavirus," 2020). In the case of death, the bodies are carefully buried with the help of health officials to avoid infecting family members. Moreover, patients who have recovered are supposed to maintain the same level of precautions as others to avoid reinfection, which might be deadly, given that they sustain substantial lung injuries. Fifthly, as a precaution to avoid the rapid spreading of the disease and aid the health care system in eradicating the disease, most countries have imposed lockdowns and stay-home-orders (Liu et al., 2020). The practice reduces human interaction, slowing infection rates and preventing the overloading of health care systems.

Epidemiology

Globally, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as of 14 April 2020, is 1, 936,754 with a death toll of 120, 568 ("Coronavirus disease," 2020; "Cases in the US," 2020). Notably, the number of people who have recovered are 459, 015, shining hope that the world can overcome the deadly virus. In China, the epicenter of the illness has reported a total of 82, 621 cases with 3,341 deaths ("Coronavirus disease," 2020). The country managed to control the first wave of COVID-19, and reopened Wuhan; however, it risks a second wave from the imported case. The United States tops the chart of the most affected country with a tally of 587, 173 coronavirus cases with 23,644 deaths ("Coronavirus disease," 2020). Spain comes in second with a total of 159, 516 cases with 18,056 deaths, while Italy is third with 159,516 COVID-19 cases and 20,465 deaths ("Coronavirus disease," 2020).

Given the increasing rate of infection in the US, the disease should serve as an awakening call to the nation's access to universal healthcare. Currently, most hospitals in New York are overloaded with coronavirus patients. The US healthcare system is being pushed to the limits as the number of new cases increase daily ("Coronavirus," 2020). Because of this, the COVID-19 is a vital issue in the country that will define how prepared the country is for unforeseen pandemics. The nation should learn from its failures in this period to improve its preparedness to tackle other pandemics in the future.

Addressing the COVID-19 issue will improve healthcare outcomes in several ways. Currently, individuals with underlying health complications are at a high risk of death if they contract the virus (Guan et al., 2020). Therefore, managing the infection and eliminating it from the country will facilitate the quick recovery of infected people reducing the death rate. Additionally, addressing the issue amicably will allow health care providers to provide holistic care to their patients during this time of panic (Guan et al., 2020). Any reluctance from the healthcare system can lead to devastating effects such as extremely high mortality and morbidity rates.

Healthcare providers can tackle the issue not only through treatment but also prevention. In this case, they must remain vigilant in ensuring that their institutions adhere to given isolation and quarantine rules. Infectious disease nurses can learn how to deploy various resources within the system to aid the public to prevent the spread of the virus. Additionally, healthcare outcomes might be improved through quick and timely treatment to minimize extensive damage to the lungs. According to Guan et al. (2020), some survivors of the pandemic are left with significant lung damage, which might expose them to their respiratory complications later. Thus, tackling the issue effectively might minimize the risks of accruing lung damages among victims.

Nursing's Role

Nurses play a critical role in periods of pandemics such as in the coronavirus disease. They are responsible for providing holistic primary care to alleviate the public form the deadly effects of the virus. Nursing roles include education, emergency response, and provision of primary care, which includes diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Firstly, nurses play an important role in educating the public on appropriate ways to minimize the risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus (Huang et al., 2020). Although they might not be involved in direct public statements, they advise health officials on appropriate measures to protect the people. Secondly, being the backbone of the healthcare system, they are in the frontline in fighting the deadly disease (Huang et al., 2020). In this case, they attend to people suspected of having the COVID-19 virus and provide an appropriate diagnosis of the disease. Thirdly, they provide treatment for patients who have tested positive and continuously monitor their progress to facilitate recovery (Liu et al., 2020). During this period of panic, they are also responsible for giving hope and emotional support to patients to facilitate better health outcomes.

Nurses are also faced with numerous ethical considerations concerning this issue. Notably, the pandemic threatens to overload the global healthcare system, leading to a scramble for the available medical resources. In countries such as the USA, Italy, and Spain, which have extremely high numbers, the availability of essential gadgets like ventilators is challenging. In cases where a hospital has many patients who require to uses scarce ventilators, nurses might face a difficult choice in deciding whom to live and who dies. It is not the role of a nurse to decide the fate of a patient; instead, one's family should be consulted under the rules of Euthanasia. Nevertheless, in this crisis, nurses might find themselves being inclined to letting elderly people die in a bid to save the young, which is unethical and against nursing principles. The dilemma was evident in Italy, which gave young people preferential access to intensive care units (ICU) at the expense of senior citizens.

Nursing leaders are at the forefront to ensure that their teams provide the best treatment to minimize suffering among patients. They are involved in routine motivation and provision of essential services in their clinical units to enhance efficiency (Liu et al., 2020; (Wang et al., 2020). Nurse leaders are a...