Mahendra Pal¹, Gemechu Berhanu Kerorsa², Venkataramana Kandi^3,

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a globally declared pandemic viral disease caused by a novel virus, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) affecting the respiratory tract. This disease has caused high morbidity as well as mortality in susceptible populations throughout the world. Currently, COVID-19 is spreading to most countries of the world including European, American, Asian, and African countries. In these countries, the death rates of the disease have been different. The possible mechanisms of transmission of the disease include droplet inhalation, direct contact with the person infected by the disease, and indirect contact transmission. Common clinical spectrum of the disease includes high fever, dry or productive cough, shortness, and difficulty of breathing, sore throat, general weakness, myalgia, and chills. The disease can be diagnosed using clinical history, travel history, contact history, clinical signs, and different laboratory tests. The emergence of COVID-19 resulted in health, social, economic, and political problems across the globe. There is no single specific antiviral therapy and a vaccine for COVID-19, and the current treatments are almost supportive. Therefore, proper control and preventive measures that include physical/social distancing, washing hands frequently with soap and water, disinfecting hands and objects with sanitizers and alcohol, avoiding contact of contaminated objects, using proper personal protective equipment, and public education could minimize the transmission.

COVID-19, Global threat, Pandemic, Public Health, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), control and preventive measures