Coronavirus

Introduction
The coronavirus or COVID19 as we know we named the virus that caused the pandemic, is a
part of a virus family which infects the host and causes illnesses varying in the magnitude of
severity for example, it can cause the common flu or a more severe disease such as Middle East
respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). According to the
reports, these viruses circulate in animals and some of these can be transmitted to humans while
several other members of this family circulating in animals have not yet infected any human.

Origins
On December 31 a case of unusual pneumonia was reported to WHO from Wuhan, china. There
are many theories about the origin of the coronavirus among which the most popular one is that
the virus have originated in an illegal wildlife market in china, where it transmitted from an
animal (either Bat or snake) to a human.

Spread
Coronavirus transmission CoVs can transmit across species barriers. As the first infected person
from Wuhan china was reported in 2019 thus the virus was named as COVID19. Some of these
patients had a history of contact with this illegal wildlife market in china in the early stages,
suggesting animal-to-person spread. Subsequently, many patients infected had not have any
exposure to the virus in the market, indicating the development of person-to-person spread.
There are three basic ways to transmit the virus, including close human-to-human contact,
aerosol transmission, and contact transmission. The virus appears to be transmitted to other
people through respiratory droplets during coughing or sneezing. A droplet outbreak can occur
when an infected person sneezes or coughs, after which the droplet-carrying virus is spread
through the air up to 3 feet and accumulates on the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose or
eyes of nearby people.

A recent report suggests that transmission through the ocular surface is also possible. Other ways
of spreading the virus are shaking hands with an infected person, touching an infected object /
surface, touching the nose or mouth repeatedly, or expelling a patient. The most concerning part
of the spread is that people who are infected and yet does not shows any symptoms transmits the
virus to others due to this unawareness of the infection.

Symptoms
A OVID19 infected person mostly shows symptoms which may varies in the magnitude of the
severity for example the symptom can be a mild cold, difficulty in breathing, and fever or in
severe cases it can lead to organ failure, pneumonia and death. The time between exposure to
COVID-19 and the appearance of the first symptoms is considered to be one day to two weeks.
As the incubation period varies and its contagiousness starts even before we can see any
symptoms as well as infected people can be also be asymptomatic allows it to spread as quickly
because people are not able to differentiate between infected and not infected personals.

Prevention and Protection1[CITATION COV20 \l 1033 ]

The measures to be taken are:

1. Blocking all trips to and from all areas defined as “red”, in which cases of COVID-19
infections have already been ascertained.
2. Possible 14-day home quarantine for those who live, work or return from these areas.
3. Selective control and measurement of body temperature of all suppliers and external
collaborators.
4. Reduction of the number of operators within each confined environment.
5. Prioritize, where possible, work from home (smart working).
6. Composing, if possible, two or more closed and independent working groups, to be
alternated every 14 days to work in the company or in smart working.

If you feel sick, follow these guidelines:2[ CITATION WHO20 \l 1033 ]

1. Stay home if you feel sick unless you are experiencing a medical emergency such
as severe shortness of breath or a very high fever.
2. Call your doctor or urgent care facility and explain your symptoms over the
phone.
3. If you leave your home to get medical care, wear a mask if you have respiratory
symptoms.

Global Impact

Since December 31, 2019, when China first reported an unknown disease, the country has been
exposed to an outbreak of a virus or disease known as COVID19. During the month of January,
the disease spread to mainland China. In March, COVID19 moved its headquarters to Europe,
with Italy the worst affected. On March 11, it was declared as a pandemic by W.H.O. Since then
the virus spread quickly within the country and into its neighboring countries. According to
reports, the United States became the new center of the virus, leaving the number of deaths and
the cases of European countries behind. In many countries, there is either a volunteer or a
government-imposed lockdown. The lockdown has helped many countries, such as China and
Korea, to control the spread of epidemics and flatten the graph, while there are also many
countries where the lockdown has not been as effective. After months of restrictions on work and
movement, many countries have begun to lift the drastic measures taken to slow the spread of the
corona virus. Following in the footsteps of China, European countries, some US states and Asian
1
COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevention and Protection Measures to ...www.mdpi.com › pdf
2
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/how-can-i-protect-myself-from-
coronavirus
countries such as Pakistan have begun the gradual process of reopening their economies,
Although there are cases reported regularly in these countries but the economic devastation
caused by the pandemic had left many jobless and in need for government assistance, which is
proving a big problem for developing countries such as Pakistan and India. Governments are
intervening in an effort to hold on to the economies as companies and businesses are greatly
being affected by the lockdown.

Many economists believe that the world is already in recession. According to the global
economic situation and prospect, economies of the developed countries will shrink up to 5
percent while for developing countries rate will decrease up to 0.7 percent due to the pandemic
causing increase in unemployment rate. Although we can see a decrease in the number of cases
of infection globally but the course of pandemic and the economies remains uncertain.

Bibliography

Cirrincione, L. (2020). Prevention and Protection. MDPI.

W.H.O. (2020). Coronavirus. Protection and Prevention.