Corona - Pandemic Break the spread!Summary:
Covid19 is now a pandemic - a disease with very high rate of person-to-person spread
Social Distancing - it means staying away from crowds and not going to any public places unless absolutely necessary. It helps break the spread.
“Flatten the curve” - If we plot on a graph, the number of new patients vs. time elapsed, currently the curve shown is a steep high curve. When we achieve a low number or no new patients in the coming days, this curve will be considered flattened and the imminent danger will have passed.
The World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on 11th March 2020.
There are 118,000 cases, more than 4,000 deaths, the agency said, and the virus has found a foothold on every continent except for Antarctica.
"We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled at the same time," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
What is a pandemic?
A pandemic describes an infectious disease where we see significant and ongoing person-to-person spread in multiple countries around the world at the same time.
Pandemics are more likely if a virus is brand new, able to infect people easily and can spread from person-to-person in an efficient and sustained way.
A pandemic is defined as the "worldwide spread" of a new disease. Whereas, an outbreak is the occurrence of disease cases in excess of what's normally expected and an epidemic is more than a normal number cases of an illness, specific health-related behavior or other health-related events in a community or region, according to the World Health Organization.
In January, the WHO declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. CNN announced that it is using the term pandemic to describe the current coronavirus outbreak.
The last pandemic reported in the world was the H1N1 flu (swine flu) pandemic in 2009, which killed hundreds of thousands globally.
People are being advised by the authorities to maintain social distancing as the best shot at containment.
WHAT IS SOCIAL DISTANCING?
In order to slow down the rate of transmission of a disease from one person to another, social distancing is being hailed as one of the top tools.
It is basically maintaining a certain distance from other people so that the coronavirus or any other microbe is unable to spread, reported AP.
To get into specifications, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes social distancing as staying away from “mass gatherings” and keeping a distance of six feet or two meters away from other people. Six feet is about one body length.
The World Health Organization recommends staying at least three feet away from others, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends doubling that to at least six feet.
“With COVID-19, the goal of social distancing right now is to slow down the outbreak in order to reduce the chance of infection among high-risk populations and to reduce the burden on health care systems and workers,” experts at Johns Hopkins said.
In practice, that means no hugs, handshakes or unnecessary physical contact, according to the university.
Johns Hopkins said social distancing can include working from home, closing schools and switching to online learning, and canceling conferences and large gatherings much of which has already been instituted.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Health officials coined the term “flattening the curve” in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to experts at Johns Hopkins, social distancing has the potential to “prevent surges in illness that could overwhelm health care systems.” and also Social distancing is a protective measure that attempts to reduce the close contact people have with each other during an epidemic.
HOW TO DO IT EFFECTIVELY — EVEN IF YOU’RE HEALTHY
Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi has summarized it thus in his tweet:
"Say No to Panic, Say Yes to Precautions.
No Minister of the Central Government will travel abroad in the upcoming days. I urge our countrymen to also avoid non-essential travel.
We can break the chain of spread and ensure safety of all by avoiding large gatherings."
The Maharashtra Government has urged companies to let their employees work from home, if they’re able. And ordered a complete shutdown of schools, colleges, malls, theaters and parks. They have also invoked section 144 in certain cities to ban gatherings of three or more people. Pune police has invoked Section 68 of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951 and imposed restrictions on tour operators to arrange trips within and outside India.
A few people have trouble understanding the need for social distancing, believing that it is not needed as the virus is not yet widespread in their area. This is risky as the virus is highly contagious, lives longer on clothes and metal surfaces and infected people do not show symptoms for 14 to 27 days.
“If you ignore the guidance on social distancing, you will essentially put yourself and everyone else at much higher risk,” according to the Times.
But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t go outside or take a trip to the grocery store when needed.
Walking, running or biking outside in otherwise uncrowded locations isn’t a bad idea — particularly for maintaining a person’s physical and mental well-being.
What can I do?
Even though it may seem simple, practicing good hygiene habits such as washing your hands and covering your cough will help to stop or slow the spread of many diseases. During a pandemic, it will be critical to understand what you may be asked or required to do. It will be important to follow any Public Health, social distancing instructions or any other instructions or orders that may be given. So please stay informed and plan ahead. ... See MoreSee Less
I hope you have a great day today and enjoy the day, you deserve it! Wishing you endless happiness and luck to you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Nirmohi Jagtap ... See MoreSee Less
Photo