Assignment Summary Article of COVID-19

In late December 2019, a previous unidentified coronavirus, currently named as the 2019 novel coronavirus#, emerged from Wuhan, China, and resulted in a formidable outbreak in many cities in China and expanded globally, including Thailand, Republic of Korea, Japan, United States, Philippines, Viet Nam, and our country (as of 2/6/2020 at least 25 countries). The disease is officially named as Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19, by WHO on February 11, 2020). It is also named as Severe Pneumonia with Novel Pathogens on January 15, 2019 by the Taiwan CDC, the Ministry of Health and is a notifiable communicable disease of the fifth category. COVID-19 is a potential zoonotic disease with low to moderate (estimated 2%–5%) mortality rate. Person-to-person transmission may occur through droplet or contact transmission and if there is a lack of stringent infection control or if no proper personal protective equipment available, it may jeopardize the first-line healthcare workers. Currently, there is no definite treatment for COVID-19 although some drugs are under investigation. To promptly identify patients and prevent further spreading, physicians should be aware of the travel or contact history of the patient with compatible symptoms

Article Summary - The outbreak of COVID-19: An Overview

            This particular article is discussing the recent outbreak and pandemic of Coronavirus, given an official name of COVID-19. It is one of the biggest global health issues of recent times, and the World Health Organization has referred to as a global pandemic. The authors have tried to provide an overview of the COVID-19 by discussing its start, its spread, and its factors to become a global pandemic. The virus was first identified in Wuhan, China in late Dec 2019. The other name given to this virus is a novel coronavirus, which is quite different from the early groups of this virus family. The outbreak started in China, which later spread to other parts of the world. The authors are discussing the virus in a global, as well as, Taiwan’s context as the authors belong from Taiwan. The Ministry of Health in Taiwan has given this virus an official name as “Severe Pneumonia”.

            The authors have made an important and clear argument that Coronavirus is a zoonotic disease, which is actually an infectious disease, and transmitted due to person to person contact. If one person is infected with COVID-19, then he can easily transmit this disease to other people if they physically get in touch with the infected one. Even the droplets of the infected person can be a reason to infect people around. I also believe that person to person contact is critical in this virus spread, and this thing has been validated by the authors as well. The authors have concluded in the end that there is no defined treatment of Coronavirus, and exerts around the world are working on it. The other conclusion was more important, which stated that physicians should understand when they check potential patients, then they should ask for travel history along with symptoms, to get an idea, whether a person is infected or not (Wu, Yi-Chi, Chen, Ching-Sung, & Yu-Jiun, 2020)

 Reference of Article of COVID-19

Wu, Yi-Chi, Chen, Ching-Sung, & Yu-Jiun. (2020). The outbreak of COVID-19: An Overview. Journal of the Chinese Medical Association, 83(3), 217-220.