Coronavirus
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The disease, also known as COVID-19, is a new strain of virus that was discovered in late 2019 and had not been previously identified in humans. Around December 2019, China was the first country to record the first cases of the Coronavirus outbreak. The patients in Wuhan city had flu-like symptoms characterized by dry cough, sore throat and fever. The cause of the disease has been linked to a causative agent present in live animals such as bats, snakes, poultry and marmots that were sold in the Wuhan’s food market (Center for Disease Control and Prevention).
The virus, which is a respiratory disease, is spread through contact with droplets from an infected person when they sneeze or cough in close proximity. The droplets land on surfaces and are picked up in the hands of others, causing the virus to spread further (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The virus has affected the global supply chain of most essential commodities with most countries that are severely affected opting for a complete lockdown. The virus has caused significant health crisis in most countries around the world (Sohrabi et al., 2020). Many people have lost their lives to the now deadly pandemic with the infected cases rising to 1.5 million-plus over the last four months.
Life has changed for everyone in significant ways, especially since to curb the virus; people need to observe social distancing and quarantine while at home. This requirement has changed daily routines for most people. Furthermore, the global economy has significantly been affected especially manufacturing industries which do not produce essential consumer goods like food, beverages and pharmaceutical products (Coronavirus: the economic impact, 2020). Besides, the rate of unemployment has increased especially with many non-essential businesses adjusting their operations or completely shutting down to minimize the spread of the virus.
References
Coronavirus: the economic impact. (2020, March 28). Retrieved March 12, 2020, from https://www.unido.org/stories/coronavirus-economic-impact
How Coronavirus Spreads. (2020, April 2). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmission.html
Sohrabi, C., Alsafi, Z., O’Neill, N., Khan, M., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., … & Agha, R. (2020). World Health Organization declares global emergency: A review of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). International Journal of Surgery.