After the scares of SARS in 2003 and MERS (2012), mother earth is once again battling a more frightening member of the Corona family: COVID-19.
As the world heads towards more effective precautions, closing on a vaccine and trying to streamline the treatment protocol, I wanted to jot down a quick and simple timeline of the now labelled "pandemic".
- DECEMBER, 2019: Wuhan, a city in China reported elevated cases of patients showing symptoms such as dry cough, fever, infiltrates (bilateral), dyspnea - PNEUMONIA
- DECEMBER 31, 2019: WHO office in China is reported of the Coronavirus cases.
- JANUARY 1, 2020: As cases came up the hunting for the source of the outbreak begins and is pinpointed at the seafood market in Wuhan which is then subsequently ordered to shutdown.
- JANUARY 12, 2020: China implements the very important decision to share the genetic sequence of the virus with the world to help combat the outbreak by finding a diagnostic test to facilitate the cure. (Very important to find a tailored dx and tx and the genetic imprint is the key.)
- January Final week, 2020: Origins are tracked down to wild bats. The virus belonged to the same family as of SARS. Sars, mers and covid-19 all originate from animal sources and mutate to infect humans.
- JANUARY 30, 2020: COVID-19 outbreak is declared an emergency.
- FEBRUARY 11, 2020: WHO announces the official name as Corona Virus Disease 2019 or as we know it as COVID-19.
- MARCH 11, 2020: The world realises the threat ahead of it as COVID-19 is declared a global pandemic urging the entire world to take it seriously and prepare for necessary measures.
The pandemic announcement was absolutely crucial and made in a well educated time that allowed WHO, CDC and the likes of them to measure the threat and realise the dangers of it. The biggest threats come from how silent this strain of virus is.
Unlike other strains, COVID is transmissible even when the carrier (infected patient) is asymptomatic (not showing symptoms).
As of now CDC has an amazing and effective treatment protocol that most countries are following and finding positive results. Israel, UK, USA and more are currently working to find a vaccine as well as streamline the treatment.
Sources:
https://www.who.int/westernpacific/emergencies/covid-19