What does world achieve from Coronavirus pandemic?

Covid-19 epidemic occurring worldwide threatening lives and economies across the world, which is affecting us mentally and physically, but surely there will be some positive outcome of Covid-19 too which proves to be a boon for the world.

Text: Tasneem AK | Edited by: Komal Sharma

As we have heard every coin has its two sides, similarly Coronavirus pandemic also has two prospective positive and negative. Although this epidemic occurring worldwide threatening lives and economies across the world, which is affecting us mentally and physically. But surely there will be some positive outcome of COVID-19 too which proves to be a boon for the world. There are some preventive measures to fight this pandemic are as follows:

• Washing of hands frequently/ hand hygiene
• Wearing a face mask in crowded and public places
• Washing of eatables (vegetables and fruits)
• Proper cleaning and sanitization of houses, objects, and surfaces
• Social distancing
• Work from home

Preventive measures such as the washing of hands frequently/ hand hygiene, Washing of eatables (vegetables and fruits), proper cleaning and sanitization of houses, objects and surfaces and social distancing (work from home) are directly or indirectly stops some infectious diseases. If these measures are continuously taken by the people across the world till this pandemic gets over, then definitely it will be tagged as the achievement from Covid-19 pandemic.

There are many diseases caused by poor hand hygiene or sanitization and contaminated food. Hand hygiene is one of the fundamental and major components of any infection control program. Hand hygiene or washing of hands is the single most essential factor in preventing noroviruses infections, nosocomial infections, airborne illnesses, and foodborne diseases. It also prevents the fecal-oral route transmission of pathogens. Some of the diseases which are spread by poor hand hygiene are given below:

Noroviruses: This is the major cause of viral gastroenteritis in humans which leads to vomiting and diarrhea. It’s transmitted when people don’t wash their hands, they can spread very quickly within large groups of people in close quarters. Some of the causes of its transmission are:

• Consuming contaminated food and water.
• Touching contaminated surfaces and objects then putting your contaminated unwashed hands in your mouth.

It has found that nearly, one out of every five cases of acute gastroenteritis leads to diarrhea and vomiting, worldwide. Mostly in developing countries, about 200 million cases are among children under 5, directing to an estimated 50,000 child deaths every year. Every year norovirus is estimated to cost $60 billion worldwide due to healthcare costs and lost productivity.

1. Airborne diseases: Common respiratory diseases such as the common cold, influenza, chickenpox, and meningitis are caused by poor hand hygiene. Airborne illness or diseases mainly spread through sneezing, coughing, and droplet transmission. The virus or bacteria then goes into the air and sits on surfaces or objects and hands of the individual. Therefore hand hygiene or regular washing of hands is essential to stop the transmission of droplets or body fluids that may have disease-causing germs. COVID- 19 is also an example of airborne disease. Hence the prevention measures for the pandemic make pro the humans and will help in cut down these other airborne infections too.
2. Nosocomial infections/ Hospital-acquired infections: These are the infections that can be acquired due to the poor hygiene followed by the hospital staff, workers, and patients. It can also be transmitted through hospital equipment and during interventional procedures. One of the most common nosocomial infections which can be spread by germs and bacteria on our hands is Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).Naturally, there’s a huge amount of infections present in hospitals and if the staff doesn’t wash their hands between seeing patients or if people with an infection aren’t practicing good hand hygiene, they can very easily spread their illness to others.

   Nosocomial infections estimated at 7% and 10% in developed and developing countries respectively. Therefore proper hand hygiene is also necessary to prevent these infections.

3. Hepatitis A: It is a viral infection that can cause mild to severe illness. It is caused by consuming contaminated food and water. It can also be getting through contact with an infected person and poor hygiene and hand sanitization. Therefore the appropriate way to stop these diseases from spreading or occurring in the first place is to wash the hands thoroughly after using the bathroom before preparing food. To avoid handshakes and touching the nose & mouth also prevent its spread.

Therefore during this pandemic period, people will become prone or addicted to these measures such as the washing of hands, eatables (vegetables and fruits), wearing masks, which will be helpful in preventing other diseases too as discussed above. Like wearing a mask and avoiding handshakes in this crucial period make people habitual to this. Then it will be extremely helpful in the long run to prevent the spread of respiratory infections and others too.

Social distancing

It is one of the major preventive measures during this pandemic to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus. It’s recommended to follow by everyone whether you are around the high-risk groups or not. It comes into force when people are maintaining a distance of a minimum of 6 feet from each other. Moreover, social distancing will work efficiently in slowing down the spread of the virus, only when it is followed by each and every citizen worldwide.

In this era of crucial COVID-19 pandemic, work from home is one of the key measures that companies are taking to follow the social distancing. As it is mandated by the government authorities many of the companies have started the work from home. Therefore, about 90% of employees worked from home, of which 65% of them from homes in metros and the rest 35% from homes in small towns. It proves as a boon for the IT industries and other companies along with the employees because of the following reasons:

Advantages for the firms

• Drops down the electricity and internet expenses bear by the companies. Although some of the core companies are giving allowance to their employees.
• Cuts off the maintenance cost.
• Increased productivity as the employees are working and devoting their time more than the official hours.
• Higher morale and lower employee turnover.

Because of these benefits, some of the main leading organizations such as JPMorgan, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and other tech giants have announced that they are extending their work-from-home policies. All these benefits will definitely help the companies in the future.

Advantages for the professionals

• There is no need to commute; it will save time as well as cut off the transportation expenses.
• No or less transportation will decrease the pollution caused by automobiles and vehicles. According to recent research global atmospheric emissions are reduced by 2.5Gt of greenhouse gases, 0.6Mt of PM2.5, and 5.1Mt of SO2 and NOx. (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0235654 : Data source) This will surely make nature pollution-free.
• No mental pressure as one can work freely and comfortably at home.
• One can devote their time to family and enjoys it to the fullest.
• People will learn about new technologies.
• It creates independence among employees, which is reducing the dependence on others for some work or help. This will make people more self-dependent and capable.

Hence the hand hygiene, sanitization of houses and surfaces, washing of fruits & vegetables, social distancing and working from home will continue in future or make the people habitual of this, then this will be highly beneficial for everyone as well as the environment. Transportation is the main driver of pollution if this declines or stops then nature will turn to normal and pollution-free. Additionally, this will help in declining the rate of infections and respiratory disorders.

Homestay is the fundamental safety step that can limit infections from spreading widely. Good hygiene and sanitization practices will also lead to a disease-free environment in a long run. But as it is well said that everything depends on the way or perspective, with which we see the situations around us. Similarly, it all depends on the way how we react to this pandemic will define the post-pandemic world.

[Hams Live]