pandemic lessons SARS CoV 2

what is Covid-19

It is the name of the pandemic caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2

Originated from China

zoonotic disease

The virus spread through the respiratory pathway and was very effectively transmitted in closed rooms

declared as a global pandemic in March 2020

Symptoms

SARS-CoV-2 was a tricky virus as symptoms appeared a week after infection, some people expirenced non or minor symptoms, allowing them to infect other people before even knowing it

If symptoms persisted, they included

• fever

• loss of taste and smell

• Cold

• shortness of breath

how many people died

7 million people

however numbers are potentially higher due to unreported cases and indirect deaths estimated 14 million

What were the bad thing that resulted from Covid 19

Deaths, especially hit were the poorer populations, were hit hard due to unequal access to healthcare and safety

schools closed → missed education

businesses closed (especially service-based) → loss of wages and jobs

transportation was limited → decrease in tourism

major events where banned → Marathons and 2020 Olympics

Economy suffered many coutries in recession

Management strategies

• Lockdowns + quarantine for arivers

• prioritisation of the elderly and severely ill

• vaccination or recovery as a must

  • vaccination 70% of globe as a target by 2022, WHO

  • Mandatory in many countries

  • G2 in germany → vaccinated or recovered

• media

  • teaching about pandemics

  • racism agains china

Lesson: Quick action

Some countries delayed lockdowns, such as the UK and Italy

Consequently, this led to widespread of contamination, which led to overwhelming hospitals

Why did they delay lockdowns

lesson: future responses must act quicker to prevent mass infection

Lesson: Survelliance of the spread

In many countries, surveillance of the scale of contamination was not well enough managed. The adoption of mandatory tests in some countries if one wished to participate in a social event was introduced too late

Moreover, the development of variants was also not identified quickly enough, such as the delta and alpha varients

Genomic sequencing, such as PCR, should be used on a wide scale to increase the number of tests

Lesson: Hospital saturation

All over the globe, many hospitals experienced hospital saturation which required prioritisation of the sickest people

In India, during the 2021 Delta variant wave

hospitals reported shortages of oxygen cylinders and hospital beds

Lesson: Hospitals need to be better prepared for by sock piling necessary resources