Essay Example on COVID-19: A Global Health Crisis with Over 1M Cases

Introduction

The new COVID-19 is a respiratory virus. It is worth mentioning that COVID-19 is a severe worldwide disease outbreak with currently more than 1,000,000 cases and more than 70,000 deaths recorded globally (World Health Organization, 2020).

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COVID-19 is a part of the virus family known as coronaviruses that infect both human beings and animals.

The current virus, COVID-19, originated at the end of 2019 in China, in the City of Wuhan, comprising of about 11 million people.

In the last two decades, the outbreaks of coronavirus have led to global concerns that include the one that broke out in 2003, which had Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The recent one before COVID-19 was in 2012 with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) (World Health Organization, 2020).

From the recent findings of COVID-19, it has been revealed that the virus can cause symptoms that are similar to flu-fever as well as a dry cough, which are the two most common symptoms of this virus (Heymann & Shindo, 2020). COVID-19 is also associated with aches and pains, feelings of fatigue, as well as nasal congestion.

As COVID-19 continues to spread across the world, other symptoms like the loss of sense of taste and smell have been noticed. However, it is yet to be confirmed if these are enough evidence of infection with COVID-19, and the World Health Organization is still inspecting this concern (World Health Organization, 2020).

How does COVID-19 spread?

As had been mentioned, COVID-19 is a respiratory virus that spreads mainly through droplets that are generated when a person who has been infected sneezes or coughs. However, studies from the World Health Organization and other bodies have revealed that the virus is also spread through saliva droplets or even discharge from the nose (World Health Organization, 2020).

According to Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly through person to person contact (Jernigan, 2020). This takes place between people who are in close contact with each other, possibly less than 6 feet apart.

When it is through respiratory droplets when an infected person sneezes, coughs, or even talks, these droplets produced can land on the nose or mouth of people close to the infected person, and they are inhaled into the lungs (Jernigan, 2020).

Another study by the World Health Organization has revealed that this novel COVID-19 can also be spread by those who are not indicating any symptoms of this virus (World Health Organization, 2020).

However, as mentioned earlier, this virus also spread from contact with contaminated objects and surfaces. It has been confirmed that it is possible that one can get infected by COVID-19 through touching object or surface that has the virus on it then touching their nose or mouth, or even their eyes (World Health Organization, 2020).

How can human infection with COVID-19 be diagnosed?

Like other coronaviruses, COVID-19 is also diagnosed in the same way as other conditions that are caused by viral infections (Heymann & Shindo, 2020). It can be done using saliva, blood, or sample of tissue. However, the most common tests use cotton swabs, which are used to obtain a sample from the nostrils (Heymann & Shindo, 2020).

The tests are carried out by various health bodies, including the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, different commercial companies, and even state health departments globally (Jernigan, 2020).

It is, therefore, advisable that whenever a person notices any of the symptoms mentioned, then they should inform their doctor right away to seek to advise on whether to continue monitoring the symptoms while staying home or if they should visit the doctor for further evaluation (Heymann & Shindo, 2020).

What are the steps to protect yourself and the people around you?

It should be noted that currently, there is no known treatment method for COVID-19, and there is no cure for this infection yet (World Health Organization, 2020). However, it is relieving to note that vaccines and treatments are currently under study. Therefore, at the moment, treatment for this virus is mainly through managing the symptoms.

To be able to prevent the spread and to protect yourself and people around you, various guidelines have been released. These include:

It is believed that the best way for people to protect themselves from the spread of COVID-19 is by ensuring that they limit the contact with those who are indicating symptoms of this virus or an indication of any respiratory infection (Kooraki et al., 2020).

Firstly, to protect yourself, one should regularly clean their hands with an alcohol-based sanitizer or through the use of warm water and soap.

Also, there is a high need to maintain social distance, which can be about 6 feet. It is believed that this prevents any close contact and help to contain the spread of this virus (Dong et al., 2020).

People are encouraged to cover their mouths using the inside of their elbows whenever they cough or sneeze.

Finally, objects that are frequently touched should be cleaned regularly and thoroughly by the use of disinfectants, especially on objects like computers, dishware, phones, and on doorknobs, among other surfaces (Dong et al., 2020).

What are the steps to be taken if a person is feeling sick?

Various health organizations have recommended that whenever one feels the symptoms, they should stay at home and separate themselves from other family members (Kooraki et al., 2020).

However, before going to the clinic, hospital, emergency room, or a health care provider, such individuals should first call the doctor to describe their symptoms and how they might have come into contact with the virus.

References

Dong, E., Du, H., & Gardner, L. (2020). An interactive web-based dashboard to track COVID-19 in real time. The Lancet infectious diseases. www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30120-1/fulltext

Heymann, D. L., & Shindo, N. (2020). COVID-19: what is next for public health?. The Lancet, 395(10224), 542-545. www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30374-3/fulltext?hss_channel=tw-27013292

Jernigan, D. B. (2020). Update: public health response to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak-United States, February 24, 2020. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 69. www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6908e1.htm?s_cid%3Dmm6908e1_e%26deliveryName%3DUSCDC_921-DM20815

Kooraki, S., Hosseiny, M., Myers, L., & Gholamrezanezhad, A. (2020). Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak: what the department of radiology should know. Journal of the American college of radiology. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1546144020301502

World Health Organization. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): situation report, 67. www.apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331613/nCoVsitrep27Mar2020-eng.pdf