COVID-19-A CHALLENGE FOR THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Abstract

Until  the  last  century,  coronavirus  have  been  associated  with  non-severe  respiratory  infections  in humans'.  In December  2019, a new coronavirus  was isolated  in patients related   to the Wet  market  in the  city  of Wuhan  (China)². It  rapidly  spread  across  the world and  has become the largest pandemic since the Spanish Flu in 1918. More than half  a  million  people   worldwide  were  infected  by  the  end  of  March  2020  with  an increasing  number of deaths  being reported³  The first COVID-19 case in Pakistan was reported in the end of February, since  than the total confirmed cases of COVID- 19 are 261,914 and reported  deaths  of 5,522 and  recovered  cases are 198,509⁴. By now we are all aware  of the symptoms  of the still evolving   disease,  which  can  include  cough, fever  and  chills,  muscle  pain,  sore  throat,  shortness   of  breath  and  loss  of  taste  and smell. It can also include gastrointestinal symptoms and headaches.

The  year  2020  has  proved  to  be  a  nightmare  for  the  economy  and  health  care; creating   a panic  situation  across  the  world⁵. It  is a three-fold  challenge  for  the health care    professionals:   one   concerning   health   care   of   the   general   population   and  prevention  and  control  of  infection  in  the  community,  secondly  providing  health  care  facilities  for  combating  this  critical  situation,  and  thirdly  safety  and  protection  of   the front-liners³. This  is  an  uphill  task  for  developing  countries  like  Pakistan  due  to   low socioeconomic reasons⁵. The  virus  is transmitted  from human  to human droplets  putting  the medical  personnel at   greater  risk  and  requiring  the  use  of  full  personal  protective  equipment  (PPE)  as they   are  in  close  contact  with  such  patients.  The  shortage  of  PPE  is  a  worldwide problem.   Proper  triage  systems should  be established  at different  health  care centers for  screening   of  suspected  COVID-19  patients.  Infected  patients  require  critical  care and assisted   ventilation  which  needs professional  training  of staff  who are involved  in care of virus   infected patients.  High  demand for ventilators  and establishment  of high dependency  units  on   emergency  basis  is  also  a  challenge.  The  emerging  need  for experienced   frontline  health   care  professionals   is  putting  our  skeletal  health  care system  under  a  lot  of   pressure.  As  we  are  eagerly  waiting  for drugs  and  vaccines  to combat this pandemic, the  only option we have is to take precautions. However,  health care professionals  cannot stay away  from the patients nor can they avoid contact with suspected   cases   of  COVID-19.   They   are    the   frontline   warriors   fighting   with   full strength. They are under tremendous physical  and mental stress. Many doctors across the world have lost their lives mainly in China and Italy,  and several deaths have been reported  in Pakistan.  Apart from their health, they are at a high  risk of transmitting  the disease to family and friends. Many queries still need to be answered in research for best scientific evidence in order to   prevent  and  control  spread  of  COVID-19  and  clinical  management   of  infected patients.   COVID-19  pandemic  is  a  challenge  for  health  care  system  globally,  which should  be   combated  with  improvement  in  acquiring  knowledge  about  the  disease, spreading  that   knowledge  to the common  man  and getting  acclimatized  with  the new normal  by  changing  our   practice  guidelines  for  providing  best  medical  care.  Public awareness   and   strict    adherence   to   standard   operational   procedures   cannot   be stressed enough to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.