On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) elevated the status of the novel coronavirus (COVID19) to a pandemic. Although the assessments are changing rapidly, COVID19 has now infected and taken the lives of thousands. Since the first cases appeared in late 2019, COVID19 has unleashed widespread shock on public and clinical health systems that struggle to respond to the surge, and on global economic productivity as workers are increasingly restricted from participation. A profound anxiety is spreading almost as quickly as the disease itself.
The growth in the number of new cases, alongside the sobering reality that potential vaccines are months if not years away [1], have led to an unprecedented response even when compared to other infectious disease outbreaks. An increasing number of high-income countries (HICs) have partially or completely closed borders and significantly restricted human movement with the ambition of viral containment. Meanwhile, some low and middle income (LMICs) countries with fragile infrastructure fear being unable to meet the health needs during an pandemic [2, 3]. Given these realities, the WHO has strongly advocated that the best approach to “flatten the curve” of newly identified cases is through robust and responsible public health measures at the individual, community, national and global levels. Dr. Michael Ryan, the WHO Executive Director of Health Emergencies, went so far as to suggest that “We share failure in the same way that we share success” [4] and that all citizens have a role to play in this global fight.
The growth in the number of new cases, alongside the sobering reality that potential vaccines are months if not years away [1], have led to an unprecedented response even when compared to other infectious disease outbreaks. An increasing number of high-income countries (HICs) have partially or completely closed borders and significantly restricted human movement with the ambition of viral containment. Meanwhile, some low and middle income (LMICs) countries with fragile infrastructure fear being unable to meet the health needs during an pandemic [2, 3]. Given these realities, the WHO has strongly advocated that the best approach to “flatten the curve” of newly identified cases is through robust and responsible public health measures at the individual, community, national and global levels. Dr. Michael Ryan, the WHO Executive Director of Health Emergencies, went so far as to suggest that “We share failure in the same way that we share success” [4] and that all citizens have a role to play in this global fight.
