What is Covid-19?

Understanding Covid-19 Myths and Facts: Covid-19 is a short-term Coronavirus Disease 2019 from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2.

The Coronavirus has shaken the infrastructure of the whole world since 2020. The disease symptoms are similar to the cold and flu.

The diagnostic tests for Covid-19 were introduced, confirming the cases of this new viral outbreak called Covid-19. The circumstances of the affected patients can be mild, moderate, or severe.

The word Coronavirus does not point toward Covid-19 expressly. It is a general term that depicts many viruses that cause respiratory illnesses.

One of the coronaviruses is SARS-CoV-2. Other examples of Coronavirus include SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).

SARS AND MERS have a significant endemic history, but Covid-19 has a greater impact worldwide.

History of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Wuhan, China, is where the origin of Covid-19 is suspected so far. Coronaviruses would not have been in existence in the year 2020. Still, something has triggered the virus’s mutation and caused the development of new strains of Covid-19.

Wuhan is the economic hub of Central China and is home to about 11 million people. The discovery of the first case occurred in December 2019. By January 5, almost 51 people were infected with a severe case and were on the verge of death.

The virus’s origin intrigued world scientists, confirming it has been a goal since the pandemic. To investigate this matter, the World Health Organization established a team of researchers and sent them to China in 2021.

The government’s cooperation and the mutual agreement between WHO and Chinese officials were hard to achieve. World leaders complained that it would not have led to a pandemic if China had been honest earlier.

Variants of Covid-19 – mutant strains

Covid-19 has shown a lot of evolution since its discovery. The spread of the virus worldwide was way quicker than expected. The delay of the treatments and lack of preventive measures had increased the thriving capability of the virus.

The survival rate of the virus increased by mutating from one strain to another. There are more than one hundred thousand existent strains, but the major ones are as follows:

Alpha mutants and their Q lineages
Beta mutants its descendant lineages
Gamma mutants and their descendant lineages
Epsilon, Eta and Iota mutants
Kappa, Mu, Zeta, and 1.617.3 mutant

All these strains have different levels of severity and transmissibility. Moreover, the types of symptoms also vary with each mutant strain.

Global Statistics and Prevalence

There are 408 million cases worldwide, possibly adding 2.83 million. Global deaths are 5.8 million, with a potential inaccuracy of 12,109 deaths. Covid-19 has been very unpredictable in terms of its spread and damage.

The economic stability and flexibility of the healthcare sector in every country determine the level of harm or emergency it can handle.

Although a superpower, the United States of America has the highest number of cases and the highest death rate compared to all the other countries. Surprisingly, the United States has always shown a sense of preparedness.

The global statistics and the prevalence of uncontrolled covid-19 cases show that the world is still unprepared for emergency handling in the healthcare sector. For this reason, emergency preparedness has been one of the main topics under discussion at the World Health Assembly and WHO Regional Meetings since 2020.

Myths Vs. Facts Related to Covid-19

Here are a few myths and facts related to the Covid-19 disease and treatment:

The vaccine is not suitable for asthmatic people. False statistics prove vaccine recommendations may be halted in people with past allergy exposure.
The Covid-19 vaccine causes impotence and, sterility, difficulty in making babies. False! FDA is yet to confirm.
Not every person infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus gets sick or dies. According to statistics, over 70% of the cases are not severe, and two weeks of quarantine is enough to improve the risk of transmissibility.
Extreme cold or warm temperature does not curtail the production of the virus. So should practice the level of precautions in all seasons.

Preventive and Safety Measures

Individual Level

At an individual level, it is advisable to utilize personal protective gear, such as; hand washing/sanitizers, face masks, and hand gloves.

Community Level

On a higher level, masks and gloves should be mandatory in public settings, such as; offices, malls, religious centers, and educational centers. Infected individuals should quarantine.

Vaccines Against Covid-19

The vaccine production commenced after Covid-19 was declared a pandemic. Pharmaceutical companies like Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, and Oxford/AstraZeneca had extensive research in a short period to produce vaccines. Other pharmaceutical companies have made more vaccines at the latter.

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