Chapter 3 – Controlling the Spread of COVID-19 – Global Response
Reports of a new and severe respiratory infection first started emerging from China in early December 2019. On February 11, 2020, WHO gave the new coronavirus its official name of COVID-19. Public health agencies around the globe are actively working to control the spread of the infection. While the total number of cases of apparent infections reported in the press continues to rise, the majority of these cases are within China, and specifically the Hubei province. Cases can be mild, with symptoms of fever and cough, and in more severe cases, difficulty breathing. At this time, the CDC notes that the risk to the general public in the US is low, and increases only if a person has recently traveled to China or been within close contact with a person who is symptomatic. Since there are currently no known vaccines or treatments, the best method of controlling the spread continues to be risk assessment and management combined with travel restrictions to and from strongly affected areas. The CDC has an excellent risk assessment and management page with an assessment flow chart and recommendations for persons in all risk classifications. In my next post, we’ll discuss what you can do to protect yourself and help stop the spread of the infection.
Reach out to me if you want to know more or discuss your medical product development challenges.
Text Copyright © 2020 Katrina Rogers
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