The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated social and economic life all the world, with various governments presented with difficult choices to make regarding the containment of its spread. The disease has also presented the world with new information about its spread and symptoms coming out every day. It is increasingly unclear when the world will get back to normality, with each country reporting new cases on a daily basis. Some countries like South Korea and Singapore use many techniques to curtail the spread of the virus and are gradually returning to normal life with the first phase of the infection effectively under control. While the new coronavirus has a very low mortality rate as compared to other viruses such as SARS and Ebola, its extremely high infection rates makes it just as serious. Each country has taken various measures to curb the spread of the virus, including closing schools, churches, and businesses. Public education and campaigns through social media platforms and the television have also helped to alert people and have them practice social distaining and proper hygiene to further help stop the spread of the virus. A global approach whereby each country puts in place strict lockdown measures in hotspot areas and caries out widespread testing to identify and isolate infected individuals is required to curtail the spread and devastation of COVID-19 effectively.
COVID-19 Overview
COVID-19, caused by the new strain of coronavirus, was first detected in China near the end of 2019. The virus later spread to all countries around the world, causing havoc in some places such as the United States and Europe ( Anderson et al., 2020) . At the moment, reported cases of infections worldwide are more than five million, and over three hundred thousand people have succumbed to the disease. While the mortality rate of the virus is considerably low, its rate of spread is quite higher, reaching heights that similar outbreaks in the past, such as the 2003 SARS did not reach in almost a year. The 2003 SARS, also caused by a coronavirus, infected about eight thousand people killing over seven hundred in nearly a year (Oberholtzeret al., 2004). COVID-19 reached that milestone in just a month, and its rate of spread has increased each day. With large parts of the developed world getting to their peaks and some putting the spread of the virus under control, the focus is now on the developing world, that is, African countries and Latin America.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Medical scientists and doctors seem to come out with new information about the virus every day. It is clear that the world is still not aware of everything concerning the spread, symptoms, virulence, and containment of the virus. However, some of the established common symptoms of the disease include a high fever, dry cough, and tiredness. Other symptoms that have been associated with the disease but are less common include body aches and pain, headache, conjunctivitis, skin rash, discoloring of toes and fingers, sore throat, and diarrhea. Symptoms such as chest pain, difficulty breathing, and loss of speech have also been observed in patients in severe conditions. The incubation period for COVID-19 is two weeks, but most people start to show symptoms after five or six days of infection. Both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals can spread the virus to other people. This means that someone who has the virus but does not show any signs can still spread it to others without even knowing that they have the virus.
Who is at Risk?
The Chinese health authorities initially observed that the virus mostly infected older people aged sixty years and above. Also, the mortality rate of the disease was quite high among this group of the population. The World Health Organization later confirmed this report and also added that the risk of infection and severe disease increased with age beginning at about forty years. However, with the virus spreading worldwide and infecting millions, it was also confirmed that anyone was basically at risk of contracting the disease and developing severe conditions. The risk is certainly much higher in older people as well as those with underlining conditions such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and chronic respiratory disease. It has also been observed that men are more susceptible to the virus as compared to women given that the numbers of men infected and those who have died from the virus are higher.
Risk areas and behavior have also been established, and the public guided on how to avoid them. Hotspots of the virus such as Italy and Spain during March and April, for instance, were considered high-risk areas to visit. Entertainment establishments, churches, and gatherings were also identified as high-risk areas. Public transportation systems, market places, and shopping centers have also been considered risk areas. Unhygienic behaviors such as wearing the same clothes over and over and touching of one’s face also put people are risk of contracting the virus.
Social Determinants of Health and Spread of COVID-19
The pandemic has clearly shown the world that the various social determinants of health should be addressed to create a level of preparedness that can help fight such pandemics in the future. Communities that are disadvantaged in terms of social amenities, resources, and access to healthcare and proper treatment are at higher risk of contracting, spreading, and dying from the disease. The social determinants of health are simply the conditions in which a person is born, grow, live work, and finally age. They consist of factors such as the neighborhood, socioeconomic status, education, employment, the physical environment, and social support systems. The impact of health or disease on a population, community, or people is highly dependent on social determinates. Some people cannot afford to have personal doctors or simply access healthcare facilities as regularly as possible. Health also depends on the capacity of people to fend for their needs and requirements, such as food, water, and hygiene. Social determinants of health have been observed to determine the spread and mortality rates in various communities all over the world.
In the United States, for instance, it has been reported that more African Americans are dying of the virus as compared to other races, which is a big surprise given that they only make up about twelve percent of the US population. But this is also not so surprising given that a majority of African Americans live in low-income areas and are highly disadvantaged socially, politically, and economically ( Parodi& Liu, 2020) . Research from the US and other places such as the United Kingdom has also confirmed that Black and Asian people are at higher risks of contracting and dying from the disease as compared to the Whites. The major predisposing factor is the fact that these communities are quite disadvantaged, and in most cases, do not have access to proper healthcare. Many people die each day, but it is almost unlikely for powerful or wealthy people to die of the disease, let alone contract it. People with adequate resources and access to proper health care are better placed to avoid and, if infected, fight the disease through proper management of the symptoms and therapy.
The world health organization, in particular, has been warning of a devastating scenario in Africa where most countries do not have properly functioning or universal healthcare systems. At the moment, the continent has reported far fewer cases than the other continents, but a rising curve suggests that the virus is spreading steadily. The slow rate of infection is likely due to the fact people do not travel as far and as often as in the developed countries and, of course, also due to the lack of enough testing kits. It is expected that most of the African countries’ health systems will be overwhelmed as the infection rate increase. Low-income communities living in ghettos in the African urban areas live in small houses or rooms in large numbers. These people cannot afford to stay home to curb the spread of the virus. The governments cannot afford to provide them with unemployment benefits to assist them as they stay at home, as in the developed countries ( Van Lancker& Parolin, 2020) . It is almost impossible to keep social distance, keep the required standard of hygiene in these places. It is, therefore, a great worry on the part of the international health community, in case the virus spreads in tremendous proportions in such areas.
Containment of COVID-19
COVID-19 has proved to be quite difficult to contain, mostly because it is highly contagious. Health officials and medical scientists everywhere are saying that it is definitely one of a kind and a strain of the coronavirus that they have never seen before. This shows just how much a threat the virus is, and a global approach is required to put it under control effectively. Lessons from previous outbreaks such as the 2003 SARS outbreaks have certainly proved vital in dealing with the virus in various parts of the world, including China. As the case of infections rose steadily in Wuhan China in January, the Chinese government’s first containment measure was to lock down the city of Wuhan and close all roads and other modes of transport from the city. Later other countries also suspended international flights and closed down their border, only allowing merchandise and essential commodities to get through ( Baker et al., 2020) . Individual countries also put in place measures to contain further communal spread within their bodies, including the wearing of masks in public spaces and banning public gatherings, including church ceremonies. Public transportation was also suspended in many countries, as well as many other businesses ( Van Lancker& Parolin, 2020) . Schools were closed in most of the counties as soon as they reported the first cases of the virus.
Other countries, however, have downplayed the seriousness of the virus and let business and people go about their endeavors normally. One such country is Sweden, which has put down any lockdown measures despite the high numbers of infections. People there are, however, practicing other containment measures such as wearing masks, practicing proper hygiene, and social distancing. In Africa, the government of Tanzania has also continued to downplay the threat of the virus and has instead encouraged its citizens to continue working. In a country with weak healthcare systems and exceptionally high unemployment and poverty levels, one only imagines what the situation may appear like if the virus infects a larger percentage of its population. Previously, countries such as the United States, Brazil, and the United Kingdom had also ignored the threat of the virus and later faced devastating consequences as infections sored to extremely high levels, with tens of thousands dying from the disease ( Parodi& Liu, 2020) . The lockdown measures, high hygiene standards, social distancing, and support from the governments of these countries have contributed to the slowdown of the spread of the virus, particularly in the UK, as well as other places such as China, Italy, France, and Spain, among others.
Comparing Trends and Historical Patterns of Previous Outbreaks (SARS, Ebola)
COVID-19 was believed to be related to the SARS outbreak of 2003, given that patients developed almost similar symptoms and that, like SARS, it was also caused by a coronavirus. It was later confirmed that the two diseases were actually quite different. SARS managed to infect about one thousand people in about four months, while it only took about twenty-five days for a thousand people to be infected by COVID-19. This shows that COVID-19 is highly contagious as compared to SARS, raising the alarm on the significance of curbing its spread. However, while the mortality rate of SARS was almost ten percent, the mortality rate of COVID-19 is extremely low, given that out of five million people, only three hundred thousand have died. The main reason behind the global spread of SARS was the fact that the Chinese officials declined from informing the WHO or the international communication of the virus for over three months (Oberholtzer et al., 2004). COVID-19 was reported in early January, while the virus had been first noticed in December of 2019. Borrowing from the previous lesson on the containment of SARS, world leaders and the WHO should be able to come up with proper measures to put pandemic to rest.
Ebola is a recurring virus disease and one that is highly dreaded, given its extremely high mortality rates and virulence ( Jacobsen et al., 2016) . While Ebola and the coronavirus are different in a lot of ways, their containment measures are almost similar. Ebola has always been treated with a lot of seriousness. Points of infections are always locked, and people not allowed to move out or inside those areas until the spread of the virus has been curtailed. Given the disruption and the health and socioeconomic devastation that the COVID-19 has already caused, it surely deserves a similar level of seriousness.
Education Campaign about COVID-19
Governments all over the world through their health officials have been at the forefront of campaigning about COVID-19. The common message throughout the world is for people to stay at home as long as they can, maintain social distance in public areas, and practice proper hygiene ( Salzberger et al., 2020) . Other organizations and businesses have also carried out campaigns through advertisements, telling the public to heed the message of the health officials and the government. Individuals in other places have made it their responsibility to present the less unfortunate and the elderly with items such as soap and alcohol-based sanitizers. Youths have created art in various settlement areas in a way to get the message of social distancing and proper hygiene to the people. Also, people everywhere around the world have been encouraged to wear face masks or face coverings while in public to prevent themselves from contracting the virus.
Recommendations
The virus originated from China, which at the moment has recorded over eighty thousand cases of infection. China has, however, managed to control the spread of the virus ( Salzberger et al., 2020) . Other countries around the world should thus take the example of China. South Korea and Singapore put in place strict lockdown measures like and have had great results as well ( Lee et al., 2020). The key is to totally lockdown hotspots of the virus, conduct widespread testing and tracing people who have had contact with infected individuals. Governments should not be worried about what the lockdown will do to the economy but the havoc that the virus would wreck if left to spread easily and quickly.
Lockdown of hotspots will ensure the virus doe s not spread to other areas. Widespread testing will help to quickly identify infections and isolate infected people from the rest of the population. Contact tracing helps to identify possible carriers and infections and prevents widespread community spread. If all countries put in place such measures, the world would be back to business as soon as possible. The pandemic should not be treated as a burden for specific countries. As long as it exists in one country, it remains a threat to the world. Thus, a unified approach whereby all nations are dedicated to putting down stringent measures to curtail communal and intercommunal spread and carrying out widespread testing to ensure all infected people are identified and isolated to curtail the spread of COVID-19 globally effectively.
References
Anderson, R. M., Heesterbeek, H., Klinkenberg, D., & Hollingsworth, T. D. (2020). How will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic?. The Lancet , 395 (10228), 931-934.
Baker, S. R., Bloom, N., Davis, S. J., & Terry, S. J. (2020). Covid-induced economic uncertainty (No. w26983). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Jacobsen, K. H., Aguirre, A. A., Bailey, C. L., Baranova, A. V., Crooks, A. T., Croitoru, A., ... &Pierobon, M. (2016). Lessons from the Ebola outbreak: action items for emerging infectious disease preparedness and response. Ecohealth , 13 (1), 200-212.
Lee, V. J., Chiew, C. J., &Khong, W. X. (2020). Interrupting transmission of COVID-19: lessons from containment efforts in Singapore. Journal of Travel Medicine , 27 (3).
Oberholtzer, K., Sivitz, L., Mack, A., Lemon, S., Mahmoud, A., &Knobler, S. (Eds.). (2004). Learning from SARS: Preparing for the Next Disease Outbreak: Workshop Summary . National Academies Press.
Parodi, S. M., & Liu, V. X. (2020). From containment to mitigation of COVID-19 in the US. Jama , 323 (15), 1441-1442.
Van Lancker, W., & Parolin, Z. (2020). COVID-19, school closures, and child poverty: a social crisis in the making. The Lancet Public Health , 5 (5), e243-e244.
Salzberger, B., Glück, T., &Ehrenstein, B. (2020). Successful containment of COVID-19: the WHO-Report on the COVID-19 outbreak in China.
