Amidst the global panic about the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China and the fear for developing into a pandamic, every country is getting alert on preventing the virus enter its gates. Emergency outbreak preparedness at primary health facility levels even in the virus-free countries would be a good tool as not all cases can be detected through airport surveillance. Many medical doctors and health professionals especially in resource-limited settings seem clueless on who to deal with the outbreak and when to RATIONALLY suspect a possible case. The information on mainstream and social media has created subconscious association of the infection with Asian race people, even with those living outside Asia with no recent travel. Therefore, (1) How can we assess or study the awareness and preparedness of medical personnel in health facilities, and (2) What should be expected from or be done by hospitals and health facilities where the infection still did not show up to rationally and promptly deal with the possible encounter of a case?
Any resentment against people of Asian descent is not useful, irrational and tends to bear a touch of racism.
Hospitals should be prepared in having installed isolation wards/rooms, sufficient PPE equipment (which unfortunately is currently barely available) and appropriate training of doctors, nurses, and other staff, including laboratory personnel. This is all we can do at this moment. We definitely need to be prepared that soon it will be declared a pandemic.
Thank you prof. Christian G Meyer !
I hope this recent article will also help us have some answers to the question.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00354-4
Protection of health care workers is of paramount importance particularly in resource-limited countries where personal protective equipment is not readily available. Another important consideration in hospitals in such outbreaks is the prevention of nosocomial transmission of the virus. In fact, the majority of patients with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV had become infected in health care settings. You may find further information in this review:
Article The Novel Coronavirus: A Bird’s Eye View
Dear Janet, as the virus is enveloped it is rather accessible to disinfection.
quarantine (both individuals and city) may be better at this time.
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