scholarly journals SECOND WAVE OF COVID 19 RISING CASES IN INDIA: SHORT COMMUNICATION SITUATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (04) ◽  
pp. 261-263
Author(s):  
Ajoke Akinola ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Warning Signs ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Time Record ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
First Time ◽  
Second Wave

Statistics currently indicated that the second wave of COVID 19 pandemic has killed over 2.94 million, and active cases 136.13 million globally as on April 12, 2021 reported by John Hopkins University and world health organization (WHO). India reported a first time record high ever of 13,689,453 COVID-19 infections, and 171,058 deaths from the ministry of health and WHO revealed on April 12, 2021. As India (13,873,825 confirmed cases and 172,085 deaths) (April, 14 2021) over takes Brazil, in the rising cases of Infection of COVID-19 as the second worst hit country in the world. It becomes the second-most affected country globally by the coronavirus after the United States (30, 888,765). Whereas the second wave is deadlier than the first wave according to the DG council of scientific and industrial research, Dr. Shekhar Mande.Preventable solutions are all but not limited to identify reasons for the spike and implement measures immediately. Some of which are uncontrolled gathering, floating of electoral commission (EC) guidelines on COVID-19 prevention during the election campaign political rallies. Some religious gatherings not adhering to the government protocol on COVID 19 prevention practices during this period (April 2021). Initially testing was limited to the high risk groups but has been expanded to cover several populations with the governments intervention. Further is to improve contact tracing, instead of negligence across the states. Drive for testing measures and rapid vaccination drive should continue as identified that authorities concerned are not testing enough. Lastly never ignore any warning signs or strange body feelings you might encounter. Act immediately, implement all preventive measures and seek medical help at once.

scholarly journals Second Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic: Its deleterious and mortal repercussion in Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 288-289
Author(s):  
Rizwana Shahid ◽  
Shazia Zeb
Keyword(s):  
Online Education ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Working At Home ◽  
Catchment Population ◽  
Coronavirus Infection ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Second Wave

The detrimental consequences of Coronavirus infection are distinctly evident following its declaration as to the 6th Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization on 30th January 2020 and its distressing and negative implications experienced across the globe. Apart from drastically impacting the healthcare of the population, a worrisome reduction in the universal economy is also attributed to this menace.The government of Pakistan is cognizant of its responsibilities took stringent measures to curb the coronavirus infection by the endowment of services for early case detection, contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine. Still, the first wave of COVID-19 resulted in a distressing scenario with the fast growth of this havoc in addition to those experienced in the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. However, World Health Organization acknowledged the diligent efforts of the Pakistani government, healthcare professionals, and administrators in combating the first wave of COVID with an earlier reduction in effective Reproduction number (Rt) to 0.746 that was primarily attributed to Intermittent lockdown imposition, closure of educational institutes, avoidance of huge ceremonial gatherings and strict compliance to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).Although fewer chances of the second wave of COVID were anticipated in Pakistan due to early flattening of the curve during the first wave of COVID-19 in comparison with those of industrialized countries8 non-compliance to SOPs contributed to the rapid surge of the second wave. The government of Pakistan declared the occurrence of the second wave of COVID on 28th October 2020 when around 750 cases per day were reported. Active cases rapidly escalated to 11,000 and approximately 93 hospitalized patients were put on ventilators. Commencement of anti-government rallies and non-compliance to health guidelines are key contributors to this havoc. Currently, about 3499 active cases on daily basis are registered across the country with 39 deaths. About 410,000 active cases are detected nationally till now with 8260 fatalities. National Command and Operation Centre has accounted for a threefold ascend of infection since 12th October 2020. The steep ascend of cases during the second wave compelled the authorities to proceed with the shutting of learning institutes, the commencement of online education, and the postponement of all types of scheduled assessments except entrance exams. Even the employees of public and private sector medical institutes were vigilantly instructed to come to their offices on alternate days and keep working at home during the rest of the days from 25th November 2020 to 31st January 2021. Although these recommendations and initiatives by the concerned authorities can be of great assistance to curb the COVID pandemic but remaining extra cautious and strict observance of SOPs is of paramount significance to halt the rapid transmissibility of COVID. Stringent efforts of Rawalpindi Medical University-affiliated hospitals in battling the second wave of COVID are worth mentioning. Apart from Holy Family Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital working to treat their respective catchment population, Rawalpindi Institute of Urology / Corona Hospital was reopened to cope up with the patient load amid the COVID pandemic. An adequate number of beds and necessary equipment were made available to manage the emerging infected cases.

scholarly journals A comparative analysis of world health systems and Covid-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-120
Author(s):  
Ayşe İKİNCİ KELEŞ ◽  
Gökhan KELEŞ
Keyword(s):  
Health Systems ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Good Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Second Wave

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which causes severe airway problems, first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The virus led to a pandemic that affected the entire world. COVID-19 affects not only health, but also economic and social life. The emergence of this pandemic has led to health systems across the world being questioned. The aim of this study was to assess the adequacy of world health systems in the face of this pandemic. Twelve countries were selected and analyzed in the study. The choice of these countries was determined by the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Information concerning health systems and COVID-19 was obtained from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development 2018, World Health Organization 2020 and Deep Knowledge Group data and was subjected to statistical analysis. According to the analysis, the country with the highest investment in health expenditures is the United States (10586 US dollars/capita), and Germany stands out as the best in health services. Another finding is the first and second wave of COVID-19 was identified as the USA with the highest case and death rate (First wave cases 1.942.363 and deaths 110.514; second wave cases at 7.419.230 and deaths 2.09.450). As a result of the meta-analysis, it is revealed that only socio-economic power is not enough, countries with good health systems are more successful in the pandemic. In addition, the analysis once again reveal how important health systems are in the face of such a pandemic.

scholarly journals Why African Americans Are a Potential Target for COVID-19 Infection in the United States

10.2196/19934 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. e19934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Hamidian Jahromi ◽  
Anahid Hamidianjahromi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Exponential Phase ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak a pandemic, significant changes have occurred in the United States as the infection spread reached and passed its exponential phase. A stringent analysis of COVID-19 epidemiologic data requires time and would generally be expected to happen with significant delay after the exponential phase of the disease is over and when the focus of the health care system is diverted away from crisis management. Although much has been said about high-risk groups and the vulnerability of the elderly and patients with underlying comorbidities, the impact of race on the susceptibility of ethnic minorities living in indigent communities has not been discussed in detail worldwide and specifically in the United States. There are currently some data on disparities between African American and Caucasian populations for COVID-19 infection and mortality. While health care authorities are reorganizing resources and infrastructure to provide care for symptomatic COVID-19 patients, they should not shy away from protecting the general public as a whole and specifically the most vulnerable members of society, such as the elderly, ethnic minorities, and people with underlying comorbidities.

Praxis of Technology and Tools in COVID-19 Response

2021 ◽  
pp. 4808-4814
Author(s):  
Padmavathy K M ◽  
Rohith Sharan S ◽  
Noorzaid M ◽  
Rehanna M
Keyword(s):  
Correct Diagnosis ◽  
Treatment Guideline ◽  
International Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Medical Field ◽  
Coronavirus Infection ◽  
Health Organization

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected around forty million people worldwide and causing over a million deaths. Since no treatment guideline is considered the most efficient, and with no vaccine approved for prophylaxis, currently the COVID-19 response demands efficient use of available technology and tools in medical field for controlling the disease. The knowledge and experience gained from the epidemics of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Ebola, and Zika virus play a pivotal role in this pandemic response. The required technologies and tools are adapted from the existing technologies and are modified to serve the purpose of COVID-19 response which is applied in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Coronavirus infection. The technologies applied at the prevention stage aims at limiting the spread of infection by using personal protective equipment, contact-tracing, and modelling. At the stage of diagnosis, technologies are used efficiently and the correct diagnosis of infected cases is done by molecular, immunological testing and radiological imaging. Artificial-Intelligence is employed in building applications that use the available information and radio-images to aid in differential diagnosis of Coronavirus infection. The treatment in COVID-19 incorporates technology in both in-patient and remote care of the cases. Though the COVID-19 response strategy differs from country to country, it is devised based on the recommendations made by the international health authorities such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States (NCDCP-US). The controlling of the pandemic depends on the collective effort of all nations which rest on efficient scientific communication and in the advancement of the medical field.

scholarly journals COVID-19 on the Nile: Review on the Management and Outcomes of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Arab Republic of Egypt from February to August 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1588
Author(s):  
Yai-Ellen Gaye ◽  
Christopher Agbajogu ◽  
Reida El Oakley
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
International Health ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization

As the world fights the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over 17 million people globally were infected with SARS-CoV-2 as of 1 August 2020. Although infections are asymptomatic in 80% of cases, severe respiratory illness occurs in 20% of cases, requiring hospitalization and highly specialized intensive care. The WHO, under the International Health Regulations, declared this pandemic a public health emergency of international concern; it has affected nearly all health systems worldwide. The health system in Egypt, similar to many others, was severely challenged when confronted with the need for urgent and major expansion required to manage such a significant pandemic. This review uses publicly available data to provide an epidemiological summary of the COVID-19 pandemic behavior during the first wave of the outbreak in Egypt. The article covers mathematical modeling predictions, Egypt’s healthcare system, economic and social impacts of COVID-19, as well as national responses that were crucial to the initial containment of the pandemic. We observed how the government managed the outbreak by enhancing testing capacity, contact tracing, announcing public health and social measures (PHSMs), as well as allocating extra funds and human resources to contain SARS-COV-2. Prospectively, economic losses from major sources of revenues—tourism, travel, and trade—may be reflected in future timelines, as Egypt continues to control cases and loss of life from COVID-19. Overall, trends indicate that the spread of COVID-19 in Egypt was initially contained. Revalidation of prediction models and follow-up studies may reveal the aftermath of the pandemic and how well it was managed in Egypt.

scholarly journals Lattice Cryptography based Geo-encrypted Contact Tracing for Infection Detection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayank Dhiman ◽  
Nitin Gupta ◽  
Ujjawal Gupta ◽  
Yashwant Kumar
Keyword(s):  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Infected Person ◽  
Privacy Concerns ◽  
Location Data ◽  
Learning With Errors ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Is Design ◽  
Epidemic Diseases

The world has already witnessed many epidemic diseases in the past years, like H1N1, SARS, and Ebola etc. Now, Covid-19 has also been added to list, which is declared as pandemic by World Health Organization. One of the most commonly used method to tackle the spread of such diseases is using mobile applications to perform contact tracing of the infected person. However, contact tracing applications involve transmitting sensitive location based data of the infected person to the government servers. Therefore, recently this has raised a lot of concerns regarding privacy of the infected persons. This work proposes a light-weight and secure encryption scheme, based on location based encryption which can be used to transfer the location data to the server without compromising its security. The main aim of the work is design an algorithm in such a way that the encrypted transferred data can only be decrypted at the server and in-between data leakage can be prevented. This work proposes to use location based encryption combined with Learning with Errors problems in Lattices, which can provide a solution to privacy concerns in contact tracing, which will even be applicable in the post quantum period.

scholarly journals COVID-19: Easing the coronavirus lockdowns with caution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasheed Omobolaji Alabi ◽  
Akpojoto Siemuri ◽  
Mohammed Elmusrati
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organization ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Forecasting Accuracy ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Second Wave ◽  
Death Cases

Background: The spread of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has reached a global level, creating a pandemic. The government of various countries, their citizens, politicians, and business owners are worried about the unavoidable economic impacts of this pandemic. Therefore, there is an eagerness for the pandemic peaking. Objectives: This study uses an objective approach to emphasize the need to be pragmatic with easing of lockdowns measures worldwide through the forecast of the possible trend of COVID-19. This is necessary to ensure that the enthusiasm about SARS-CoV-2 peaking is properly examined, easing of lockdown is done systematically to avoid second-wave of the pandemic. Methods: We used the Facebook prophet on the World Health Organization data for COVID-19 to forecast the spread of SARS-CoV-2 for the 7th April until 3rd May 2020. The forecast model was further used to forecast the trend of the virus for the 8th until 14th May 2020. We presented the forecast of the confirmed and death cases. Results: Our findings from the forecast showed an increase in the number of new cases for this period. Therefore, the need for easing the lockdown with caution becomes imperative. Our model showed good performance when compared to the official report from the World Health Organization. The average forecasting accuracy of our model was 79.6%. Conclusion: Although, the global and economic impact of COVID-19 is daunting. However, excessive optimism about easing the lockdown should be appropriately weighed against the risk of underestimating its spread. As seen globally, the risks appeared far from being symmetric. Therefore, the forecasting provided in this study offers an insight into the spread of the virus for effective planning and decision-making in terms of easing the lockdowns in various countries.

scholarly journals Containing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Belize

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle A. Habet ◽  
Diomne Habet ◽  
Gliselle Marin
Keyword(s):  
National Level ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Female Ratio ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
First Case ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Male To Female

Abstract Objective: To demonstrate how Belize, a small country in Central America with limited resources, contained the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).Methods:Information was gathered from official press releases from the Government of Belize. Statistics were accessed from the Ministry of Health’s website. Additional information was acquired from internet searches on Pubmed and the World Health Organization.Results:Total Cases: 18; Male to female ratio: 1:1; Deaths: 2; Total Tests Done: 1,128; Percentage of positive tests: 1.59%, New cases per day since first case to plateau: 0.812.Conclusion: Early intervention on a national level was key to preventing importation of cases and subsequent community transmission. Limiting the conglomeration of people, curfews, closures of school and universities, government-mandated social distancing, and extensive contact tracing may have mitigated the exponential spread of COVID-19. Mandatory mask-wearing in public may have helped to prevent spread between asymptomatic carriers to susceptible individuals. A low population density may have also contributed to containing the virus.

scholarly journals Antivaccine Messages on Facebook: Preliminary Audit

10.2196/18878 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. e18878
Author(s):  
Dhamanpreet Dhaliwal ◽  
Cynthia Mannion
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization

Background The World Health Organization lists vaccine hesitancy as one of 10 threats to global health. The antivaccine movement uses Facebook to promote messages on the alleged dangers and consequences of vaccinating, leading to a reluctance to immunize against preventable communicable diseases. Objective We would like to know more about the messages these websites are sharing via social media that can influence readers and consumers. What messages is the public receiving on Facebook about immunization? What content (news articles, testimonials, videos, scientific studies) is being promoted? Methods We proposed using a social media audit tool and 3 categorical lists to capture information on websites and posts, respectively. The keywords “vaccine,” “vaccine truth,” and “anti-vax” were entered in the Facebook search bar. A Facebook page was examined if it had between 2500 and 150,000 likes. Data about beliefs, calls to action, and testimonials were recorded from posts and listed under the categories Myths, Truths, and Consequences. Website data were entered in a social media audit template. Results Users’ posts reflected fear and vaccine hesitancy resulting from the alleged dangers of immunization featured on the website links. Vaccines were blamed for afflictions such as autism, cancer, and infertility. Mothers shared testimonies on alleged consequences their children suffered due to immunization, which have influenced other parents to not vaccinate their children. Users denied the current measles outbreaks in the United States to be true, retaliating against the government in protests for fabricating news. Conclusions Some Facebook messages encourage prevailing myths about the safety and consequences of vaccines and likely contribute to parents’ vaccine hesitancy. Deeply concerning is the mistrust social media has the potential to cast upon the relationship between health care providers and the public. A grasp of common misconceptions can help support health care provider practice.

scholarly journals Public health response to two incidents of confirmed MERS-CoV cases travelling on flights through London Heathrow Airport in 2014 – lessons learnt

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Parry-Ford ◽  
N Boddington ◽  
R Pebody ◽  
N Phin ◽  
Collective on behalf of the Incident Management Team
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
International Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Health Organization

In May 2014, Public Health England was alerted to two separate laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection who transited through London Heathrow Airport while symptomatic on flights from Saudi Arabia to the United States of America. We present the rationale for the public health response to both incidents, and report results of contact tracing. Following a risk assessment, passengers seated two seats around the cases were prioritised for contact tracing and a proactive media approach was used to alert all passengers on the planes of their possible exposure in both incidents. In total, 64 United Kingdom (UK) residents were successfully contacted, 14 of whom were sat in the priority area two seats all around the case(s). Five passengers reported respiratory symptoms within 14 days of the flight, but all tested were negative for MERS-CoV. Details of non-UK residents were passed on to relevant World Health Organization International Health Regulation focal points for follow-up, and no further cases were reported back. Different approaches were used to manage contact tracing for each flight due to variations in the quality and timeliness of the passenger contact information provided by the airlines involved. No evidence of symptomatic onward transmission was found.

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