Short Commentary - (2020) Volume 10, Issue 2
The number of cases of Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) in the ongoing outbreak is still on the rise with a cumulative total of 2954222 cases has been reported till date. Owing to the reported rise in the number of cases and a rapid rise in the number of affected nations in the last week, the World Health Organization has declared very high global risk of spread of the infection. Amidst these circumstances, we all have to play our part and the ensure that the potential risk of acquiring the infection is minimized. In conclusion, the global risk assessment of COVID-19 has been redefined as very high and thus in the battle against the disease the need of the hour is to interrupt the chain of transmission, which will essentially require strengthening of early detection, isolation, surveillance, treatment and contact tracing activities.
The number of cases of Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) in the ongoing pandemic continues to rise with each day [1]. The available global estimates suggest that the disease has been reported in excess of 213 nations and territories since the detection of the first case of the novel viral infection [1]. Moreover, till date, a cumulative total of 2954222 cases has been reported of which 46.9% of the cases have been reported in the European region alone [1]. From the disease-specific mortality perspective, a total of 202597 deaths have been reported and the available estimate suggests that the case fatality ratio of the disease has increased to 6.9% [1]. All these estimates are a significant cause of public health concern and it clearly necessitates that all the stakeholders have to be really dedicated in our efforts to ensure that the disease is successfully contained [1].
However, owing to the reported rise in the number of cases and a rapid rise in the number of affected nations in the last week, it becomes a significant cause of concern for the global health authorities [2-4]. In-fact, the recent development has provided adequate evidence about the assessment of the risk to the World Health Organization and the overall risk of spread of the infection has been declared as very high at both regional and global level [1].
What changes?
Efforts have to be taken to strengthen the laboratory facilities for ensuring early detection of the cases, and follow-it up with the isolation of the confirmed patients and provision of appropriate care and treatment to the patients. Simultaneously, the contacts of the patients need to be identified and should be quarantined for emergence of symptoms. In addition, we have to strengthen the infection prevention and control measures, including adherence to the cough etiquettes, hand hygiene, and periodic cleaning of the contaminated surfaces using disinfectants [2-4].
It is very essential that all the symptomatic individuals should have a positive health seeking behavior and approach health professionals for their complaints and as far as possible stay at home [1-3]. Moreover, steps should be taken to improve the awareness about the disease among the general population and encouraged to practice social distancing. Also, the range of surveillance services should be strengthened at the point of entry and actions should be taken to reduce the importation of cases. Further, we have to invest in research field, especially with regard to the development of vaccines and therapeutics [3].
In conclusion, the global risk assessment of COVID-19 has been redefined as very high and thus in the battle against the disease the need of the hour is to interrupt the chain of transmission, which will essentially require strengthening of early detection, isolation, surveillance, treatment and contact tracing activities.
Citation: Shrivastava, S.R., & Shrivastava, P.S. "World Health Organization Declares Very High Global Risk of Transmission of Corona Virus Disease 2019". Prim Health Care, 2020,10(2), 001.
Received: 06-May-2020 Published: 25-May-2020
Copyright: 2020 Shrivastava SR, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
