COVID-19 Pandemic: the crisis and the longer-term perspectives

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is exponentially growing. It is the defining global health crisis of our time and the greatest challenge since World War Two. Countries are racing to slow the spread of the virus by testing and treating patients, carrying out contact tracing, limiting travel, quarantining citizens, and cancelling large gatherings such as sporting events, concerts, and schools. The pandemic is moving like a wave. Some countries have effectively contained the pandemic, while others have been slow and the consequences of delay in responding to the challenge are obvious. Every day, people are losing jobs and income, with no way of knowing when normality will return. Nations need to act immediately to prepare, respond, and recover. Nations must focus on the procurement and supply of essential health products, strengthening crisis management and response, and addressing critical social and economic impacts. Researchers are working tirelessly to discover new life-saving medical innovations. The strategy is to develop diagnostic tools to quickly and effectively detect the disease in the first place, alleviating symptoms so that people who have disease experience milder symptoms, and lowering the overall mortality rate. One of the most promising leads on a COVID-19 vaccine is mRNA-1273. This vaccine, is being developed with extreme urgency, skipping straight into human trials before it was even tested in animals. The aftermath is likely to be something we have never witnessed. A new social order will emerge, a new structure of the society, a paradigm shift in human relationships and above all a new economic adjustment.