COVID-19: Origin, Impact and Management, Part 1

 COVID-19 is a global pandemic resulting in devastating impacts that spread through a virus and are even more contagious than influenza, as evident from the frequent reporting of cluster outbreaks. Although the key problem is that the symptoms are often similar to other common illnesses, such outbreaks can be controlled if individuals with initial symptoms are tested, and further contact tracing is done. The concept presented here discusses the order in which symptoms appear to differentiate it from other respiratory disorders, however, this crucial information is mostly missing. To determine the most likely order of detectable symptoms in COVID-19 patients, we apply a Markov Process to a graded partially ordered set based on clinical observations of COVID-19 cases. A comparison was made between the evolution of these symptoms in COVID-19 and influenza, SARS, and MERS to see if they were present differently. Influenza, according to our hypothesis, begins with a cough, whereas COVID-19 and other coronavirus infections begin with a fever. COVID-19, on the other hand, varies from SARS and MERS in terms of the order of gastrointestinal symptoms. As facilities begin to reopen following the 2020 spring outbreak, our findings support the idea that fever should be used to screen for admission and that appropriate clinical practice should include noting the order of symptoms occurrence in COVID-19 along with other diseases. If this type of systemic clinical approach had been routine, the move from a local to a worldwide pandemic might not have happened.

Increasing population and increased intensity of crop production led to the invention of pesticides, among which organophosphates are extensively commercialized and used as commercial pesticides. Their toxicity leads to millions of deaths every year. The insecticide enters the food web and inhibits acetylcholinesterase enzyme production, which upturns into respiratory dysfunctioning and immuno-toxic production. SARS-CoV-2, a natural micro immuno-toxin, serves a similar mechanism over our body. It affects both the respiratory system and autoimmunity. The scope of this review article is to brief and explain the mechanism and relation between these two co-partners and their futuristic impact on the world. Henceforth, it is also recommended to utilize cost-effective homemade natural pesticides and integrated farming practices to provide secure and healthy food production and curb the future health hazards caused by SARS-CoV-2 and organophosphates. 

Air pollution is presumed to exacerbate the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies have emphasized that particulate matter in the air increases the virus’ infectivity and disease lethality. A study was undertaken to inspect if short-term exposure to pollutants during firecracker burning on Diwali, 2020, contributed to COVID mortality rates. Here, air quality variation was monitored concerning PM2.5 and PM10 from 4th- 21st November 2020 in the six most polluted cities of North India viz. Delhi, Lucknow, Greater Noida, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad and Muzaffarnagar; Focussed largely on measuring pollutants' concentration pre, post and during the Diwali period, significant short-term variation in the AQI was observed during the night of Diwali which remained constant until the next day. The hazardous values recorded for AQI during the Diwali period indicated non-compliance with the ban imposed by the government on burning firecrackers in 2017. The study established a weak positive correlation between temperature and AQI, whereas a negative correlation was established between AQI and humidity. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, short-term variations in air quality may prove to be critical.

In this paper, we study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic conditions and the stock markets of countries across the world. We find that an increase in contagion and death rate due to the pandemic inversely affects both the country’s GDP and its stock markets. Next, we study the impact of government stimulus on the economic conditions and the stock markets of each of the countries in our sample. We find that the government stimulus moderates the effect of COVID-19 on the real condition of economies as we find that GDP is not affected by COVID-1- -related death in the post-stimulus period. The stimulus alleviates the negative impact of pandemic concerns on the stock markets, where the increase in contagion and death rate due to COVID-19 positively correlates with the performance of stock markets in the post-stimulus period.

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is extensively spreading all over the world, causing unprecedented hazards to mental health globally. The global pandemic of COVID-19 has been strongly impacting humanity and continues to influence all segments of the population since its origin. While dealing with such a public health crisis, past experiences have witnessed generalised public fear and anxieties due to uncertainty, causality and lack of public health preparedness. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge the detrimental effect of COVID-19 on the mental health of individuals of different age groups. This chapter aims to explore the impact of this unprecedented atmosphere on the mental health of the elderly, healthcare workers, children, adolescents and young people, pre-existing mental health conditions, post COVID-19 patients, women, homeless people and refugees. The chapter presents the direct and indirect psychological impact of COVID-19 on the genera at the individual, societal and public health levels. It will discuss at length some emerging concepts of the causal routes of mental disorders and suggest some strategies to prevent and promote mental health problems in individuals during this crisis. For the general population at large, just like physical effects, it is important to address the impact of COVID-19 on mental health effects as well. Various studies reported that mental problems such as anxiety, depression and fear of getting infected were common among people of all age groups who responded to COVID-19. The important lessons to be learned so far can help to devise individual mental health recommendations, as well as improved interventions and preventions of public health approaches. 

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children is a developing worry. The United Nations and its agencies (the World Health Organization and UNICEF), the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and India's National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience all warn of the pandemic's broader effects on children and call for immediate action to help children around the world. The pandemic had an impact on children's physical, mental, social, and psychological wellbeing in every way. The vulnerable group of children was severely deprived of nutrition and protection, and the pandemic's protracted stress-triggered mental health, which requires prompt intervention. Children who dropped out of school, particularly in rural regions, were at a higher risk of child marriage, child labour, and teen pregnancies. Based on the research, the current chapter highlights the influence of COVID-19 on the lives, education, and general development of children aged 4 to 17, in India. The authors were able to examine the pandemic's effects on children's lives using the snowball sampling approach in conjunction with peer-reviewed research, reports, and government publications published between January 2020 and November 2021. The findings revealed a negative trend in temperamental qualities such as sadness (82.5%) & nervosity (73.5%) that accelerated during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic years. Also, children faced difficulties in receiving online education (53.6%). The chapter also highlighted the vulnerability of certain groups of children and presented numerous examples and recommendations that should be implemented as quickly as possible to mitigate the pandemic's negative impacts on children.

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019 was a defining moment in medical history that pushed the world into a state of uncertainty and fear. The virus was a new one, its effects on the human body were severe and its evergrowing spread across the globe soon became a major concern for everyone, drawing an extraordinary response from the scientific community, doctors, health workers and governments. The research was conducted on the structure and physiology of the virus as well as the human immune response to the virus, along with the development of testing, therapeutics, and vaccines occurring on an unprecedentedly short timescale. With support from governments and pharmaceutical companies, within a year of the worldwide outbreak of the disease, numerous vaccine candidates had emerged, and to date, eight World Health Organization-approved vaccines are being used on an emergency basis. In this concise review, the different types of vaccines have been described, along with the characteristics of the leading vaccines and a detailed discussion of the vaccines being used in India.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact, especially in the last 2 years, and inflicted a grave loss globally. The world came together to devise various protocols and preventive measures to battle this viral outbreak. The chapter explores the various immediate medicinal measures to cure COVID infections. The Government of India initiated the process of vaccine manufacture and distribution among the population. This was met by various hurdles, namely myths, misconceptions, misinformation and concerns regarding the vaccines and the disease itself. This was majorly reported in the rural regions of India where the vaccination was not successful in the desired results; this might have been due to various reasons, such as lack of awareness among the rural population or due to the difficulty faced in the transportation and storage of Corona vaccines. This chapter attempts to shed light on the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines by the Indian population and also discusses the same concerning the rural population and proposes plans to expedite the Corona Vaccines to such areas. The Government of India initiated a Co-WIN vaccine delivery management system to encourage people and create awareness to fight against this pandemic by opting for vaccination. An independent survey was conducted that consisted of a questionnaire addressing acceptance, management and concerns about the COVID-19 vaccination. Among 211 respondents, 19.6% (41 respondents) were either doctors or medical professionals. The survey provided insight into vaccine awareness among frontline workers and the general public of India.