The Onset of COVID-19 Pandemic
The world was gripped by the outbreak of a disease called Novel Coronavirus Disease which made normal life impossible for the people. The year 2020 will be remembered by most people as annus horribilis.
On 11 March 2020, WHO declared the Novel
Coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic and reiterated the call for countries to
take immediate actions and scale up the response to treat, detect and reduce
transmission to save people’s lives.
The COVID 19 Pandemic is considered the
most serious global health crisis of the century and the greatest challenge
that humankind faced since the 2nd world war. In December 2019, the new infectious respiratory disease emerged in Wuhan, Hubei province, china, and
was named by the WHO as Covid 19.
A new class of coronavirus, known as SARS
– CoV -2 is responsible for the occurrence of this disease. Genomic analysis revealed
that SARS -CoV – 2 is phylogenetically related to severe acute respiratory syndrome-like
(SARS) bat viruses, bats could therefore be the possible primary source.
According to the report of the World
Health Organization, the current outbreak of Covid 19 has affected over 127,349,248 and killed more than 2,787,593 people’s in
more than 200 countries throughout the world.
Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic
The Coronavirus outbreak is severely
disrupting the global economy. Almost all the nations are struggling to slow
down the transmission of the testing & treating patients, quarantining
suspected persons through contact tracing, restricting large gatherings,
maintaining complete or partial lockdown, etc.
Before the onset of Covid 19, there were
at least five pandemics in the current century, H1N1 in 2009, polio in 2014,
Ebola (West Africa in 2014), Zika in 2016, Ebola ( Democratic Republic of Congo
in 2019). COVID 19 outbreak was declared as the sixth public health emergency
of international concern on 30 Jan 2020.
The disease had its impact on all aspects
of life whether it be religious, cultural, social, educational, or scientific.
Annual religious gatherings like the Umrah and the Haj were canceled. 2020
Olympics which were to take place in Japan was postponed. Many annual sport events
like the Wimbledon and the French Open were canceled. Many industries stopped
functioning for months.
The WHO has recommended some precautionary
measures in containing the disease. The measure includes avoiding close contact
with people suffering from acute respiratory illness, regular handwashing with
soap & water or hand sanitizer particularly after direct contact with sick
people or their environment maintaining cough etiquette and avoiding
unprotected contact with farm or wild animals, etc.
*Bringing a glimmer of hope, Russia on
August 11, 2020, declared itself the first country to approve a Coronavirus vaccine
with President Vladimir Putin saying one of his daughters had been inoculated.
The World Health Organization said any WHO
stamp of approval on a COVID 19 vaccine candidate would require a rigorous
safety data review.
Vaccination for COVID-19
Vaccines save millions of lives each year.
Vaccines work by training and preparing the body’s natural defenses – the
immune system – to recognize and fight off the viruses and bacteria they
target. After vaccination, if the body is later exposed to those
disease-causing germs, the body is immediately ready to destroy them,
preventing illness.
As of 18 February 2021, at least seven
different vaccines across three platforms have been rolled out in countries.
Vaccines are a critical new tool in the
battle against COVID-19 and it is hugely encouraging to see so many vaccines
proving successful and going into development. Working as quickly as they can,
scientists from across the world are collaborating and innovating to bring us
tests, treatments, and vaccines that will collectively save lives and end this
pandemic.
Safe and effective vaccines will be a game-changer: but for the foreseeable future, we must continue wearing masks,
physically distancing and avoiding crowds. Being vaccinated does not mean that
we can throw caution to the wind and put ourselves and others at risk,
particularly because it is still not clear the degree to which the vaccines can
protect not only against disease but also against infection and transmission.
Written By - Violet Priscilla S.
Edited By - Anamika Malik
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