So far in the UK, there have been a total of 9,529 reported cases and 422 deaths. Worldwide the number of cases has now reached 468,644, while the death toll is 21,191. The rapid spread of the illness means that medical professionals and healthcare workers, who are at high-risk for exposure, need to be sure they are up-to-date on information regarding the coronavirus.
What Precautions to Take:
The transmission of the virus mainly occurs through respiratory droplets generated by coughing, sneezing and contact with contaminated surfaces. Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up the virus easily. Therefore, a precaution everyone, especially healthcare workers, must take is washing your hands regularly, using soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds. Another method of killing the virus on your hands is by using hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol. Avoid touching your face with your hands to prevent transmission through your nose, mouth and eyes; the vanity required of a timely hair flick really isn’t worth it.
Wearing protective gear while dealing with patients is a must. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a visor, synthetic respirator mask and water-resistant gown and long gloves. Patients who are suspected of having the illness should be evaluated in airborne infection isolation rooms.
It’s been documented that COVID-19 can survive on inanimate objects for 5 days and metal objects for up to 9 days. Therefore, another precaution is to clean home and workspace surfaces with anti-bacterial surface wipes or sprays.
Social distancing should also be practiced by healthcare workers as much as possible. Maintaining at least a 1 metre distance between yourself and someone carrying the virus can prevent transmission. When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in these droplets and get COVID-19.
How to Test:
Testing will be key in helping stop the rapid transmission of coronavirus. At the moment, testing can be done at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) via a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test. CDC recommend specimen collection from the lower and upper respiratory, as well as serum, urine and stool. Testing should also include other respiratory illnesses in order to rule out non-COVID19 pathogens. The CDC also states that healthcare workers should not perform any viral isolation in cell cultures at this time.
Nevertheless, the Public Health of England (PHE) is currently working on creating a 15-minute fingerprick at-home test that should be available firstly to healthcare workers and those at high-risk of exposure and then to the general public in the next few coming weeks.
Signs & Symptoms to Lookout for:
According to WHO, the most common symptoms of coronavirus are fever, tiredness and dry cough. As the world becomes enveloped in the pandemic, it’s clear the COVID-19 symptoms are more sophisticated than the ‘common three’ stated from WHO. Often, they mirror those of the influenza virus—aches and pains, cough, fever, headache, diarrhoea, runny nose, fatigue, nasal congestion and loss of appetite. Unique and further disconcerting symptoms to COVID-19 appear to be shortness of breath and loss of taste and smell.
When the virus has developed in the body, more severe symptoms occur, such as pneumonia, kidney failure, liver failure and low oxygen levels. Anyone demonstrating these symptoms require immediate hospitalisation.
It’s important to remember there is no orderly symptom pathway or timeline. Irregularities and inconsistencies will be present across those infected. Demographic and pre-existing medical conditions complicate and contribute to the varying severity of the virus threat toward individuals. Each body responds and behaves differently to the virus, some exhibiting very few associated symptoms, while others are even asymptomatic.
Vaccinations and the Future:
Creating vaccines can be a complex process, involving a great deal of testing and funding. Presently, the most common types build up people’s immune system to the particular virus. Attenuated vaccines use a weak strain of the pathogen, while inactivated vaccines utilise protein markers on the pathogen which allows the virus to invade human cells. Nucleotide vaccines, on the other hand, replicated the pathogen’s DNA and RNA.
Testing the vaccine takes approximately 1 to 2 years and consists of 5 phases: development, animal testing, human testing (small healthy group), human testing a large group and, finally, testing thousands of people where the virus has spread. Currently, there are 35 companies attempting to develop the coronavirus vaccine, with 4 in the animal trial phase and one, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, soon to enter human testing.
The funding for this massive undertaking will range in the billions, but there are several organisations providing contribution, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Scientists are aiming for the COVID-19 vaccine to be in the market in 18 months. Fingers crossed it can be deployed sooner.
If you are a healthcare worker looking to use your skills to help fight the coronavirus outbreak, you can participate in extra shifts. You will soon be able to use the world’s first fully automated booking app for free to do so. Please email contact@rohme.uk if interested.