CHINA TORI

There are 2 highly easential ways to coordinate and end this COVID-19 global pandemic:

1. Prevention
2. Cure

The cure is more expensive than prevention.

Currently, there is no cure for the COVID-19, so what is done is symptomatic and other forms of treatment to raise the immunity of the patient and reduce the viral load. This is done at the isolation centres designated for confirmed COVID-19 patients. Ideally, suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients should not stay (cohorting) in the same isolation centres, they should be separated.

Once the patient’s immunity is above the viral load, there is a high probability of recovery.

Prevention of COVID-19 can be done in 2 settings:

1. At the healthcare setting by applying infection prevention and control practices and programs such as hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, appropriate use of PPE, respiratory triage system, environmental cleaning, etc.
2. At the community level to prevent community transmission by applying public health measures as preventative measures (hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, social distancing, avoiding crowded areas, staying indoors, self-isolation for suspected COVID-19 cases) among the public, contact tracing, community surveillance and others.

The respiratory triage system should be fully functional in all health centres where a probable or suspected COVID-19 patient can present. The system is meant to contain and control the entry and movement of the suspected and/or confirmed COVID-19 patient within the health centre so that the virus (SARS-CoV 2) does not spread from the patient to others (health workers, patients, patients’ families, visitors, etc.) and contaminate equipment, materials, surfaces and environment of the health centre.

Once the respiratory triage system is effectively applied and sustained, the transmission of COVID-19 in the healthcare setting is adequately minimized. This prevents the spread from the health centre to the community through the movement of infected (but undetected) people.

In the community, applying and sustaining the appropriate public health measures will prevent the spread of COVID-19 from the community to the health centres.

Compliance with the infection prevention & control measures in the healthcare settings and the public health measures in the community will reduce the burden of confirmed COVID-19 patients moved to the isolation/treatment facilities.

As long as we effectively control the spread of COVID-19 in the health centres and community, we will reduce the load of patients admitted into the designated COVID-19 isolation/treatment centres and the resources utilized in those centres.
If we fail to do this, there will be more COVID-19 cases admitted into the designated isolation/treatment centres and more COVID-19 cases occurring in the healthcare settings and community.

This is the time for the world to appropriately coordinate care and resources to the right places using the right approach so we can quickly END the COVID-19 global pandemic.

God bless us all.
God bless our world.

Dr David Owoeye,
Infection Prevention and Control Specialist,
General Directorate of Infection Prevention and Control Jazan region,
MOH Saudi Arabia

Image: New Scientist