COVID-19: Origin and the Factors that Contributed to the Transmission

ASSIGNMENT: COVID-19
COVID-19
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Explain COVID-19, its origin, and current statistics.
Globally, CDC reports 117,799, 584 confirmed COVID-19 cases. This includes 2, 615, 018 COVID-19 related deaths as at 11 March 2021. A total of 300,002,228 vaccine doses had been administered globally as at March 9 2021(CDC, 2021). The America’s reported 52, 202,902, Europe 40,438, 291, South East Asia 13, 789, 730, Eastern Mediterranean 6, 756, 455, Africa 2, 924, 244 and 1,68, 217 for Western Pacific (CDC, 2021). As at 11 March, 28, 879,927 cases had been reported in the United States of America. Besides, a total of 523, 986 deaths had been reported as at March 4, 2021. In the same period, a total of about 82, 572, 848 COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in the United States (CDC, 2021).
Covid-19: Origin
What is COVID-19?
Covid-19 is a novel virus, also known as SAR-CoV-2 corona virus that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in mid-December 2019. The corona virus was renamed COVID-19 in 2020 by WHO. COVID-19 is an acronym that stands for Corona Virus Disease, 2019 (Umakanthan et al., 2020). The virus spreads through natural evolution and human to human transmission even though animal to human is also possible in rare circumstances. SAR-CoV-2 belongs to a family of coronaviruses that cause mild to acute respiratory complications (Umakanthan et al., 2020). The first case of SARS was reported in China, while a second outbreak, MERS, was reported in 2012 in the Middle East. The SAR-Cov-2 genome sequence data shows that the virus largely spreads through human to human contact, originating from the first human case (CDC, 2021). Researchers have linked the origin of pathogenic Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2, to two scenarios. Firstly, it might have emerged through natural selection and particularly from a non-human host before entering into human populations.
A possible direct exposure to non-human hosts namely Civets (SARS) as well as Camels (MERS) can cause the virus. The most likely non-human host could have been a bat since SARS-CoV-2 resembles the bat Corona virus. However, there is no evidence linking Covid-19 to a direct bat-human transmission. Still, it’s probable that a non-pathogenic SARS-CoV-2 could have jumped from a non-human host into human populations, before evolving into its current pathogenic state. It’s also possible that Covid-19 could have been transmitted from pangolins into human populations through intermediaries like Civets and ferrets (Umakanthan et al., 2020).
The three factors that might have contributed to Covid-19 transmission within the Soldiers Home are:
Human to Human Transmission
From the first case of corona virus at the Soldier’s Home, it’s likely that the virus spread through human-to-human transmission given the lack of detection and containment measures such as quarantine facilities, social distancing and the lack of PPEs. Other possible Covid-19 transmission methods at the facility include natural evolution and selection (Asiamah & Furlow, 2020).
The three Factors:
A. Failure of the Administrators to quarantine/isolate the first suspected Covid-19 patients.
After the first suspected Covid-19 cases, the administrators locked two dementia units that housed large populations of veterans exhibiting mixed covid-19 statuses. Furthermore, their failure to adhere to Covid-19 preventive protocols could have led to the spread of COVID-19 at the Soldiers Home (Asiamah & Masciadrelli, 2020).Besides; the leadership’s failure to isolate suspected patients may have been the cause of human to human transmission. Evidence shows that after the first veteran tested positive, he continued to mingle with other veterans in the dementia unit. This might have triggered the rapid spread of the virus (Davalgi et al., 2020).
B. Delays in conducting Covid-19 tests on veterans who exhibited obvious symptoms.
The Covid-19 outbreak at the Soldiers Home could have been prompted by the leadership’s reluctance to test the first suspect, even though he showed obvious symptoms. After he tested positive, the leadership failed to conduct tests on his roommates in the dementia unit (Davalgi et al., 2020). This delay allowed the virus to spread through human-to-human contact. As a result, other veterans had prolonged exposure to the Covid-19 virus.
C. Delays in implementing Covid-19 containment measures after the first cases were reported.
The administrators failed to respond appropriately by closing the communal areas to contain the transmission of the virus. After the first case, veterans freely mingled with their colleagues who had tested positive and no containment measures such as social distancing, isolation and use of PPEs had been implemented (Davalgi et al., , 2020). Still, staff members who attended to suspected patients freely mingled with other veterans. In addition, administrators failed to stop the rotation of staff from unit to unit. This accelerated the rapid spread of the virus. Still, inconsistent policies and practices at the Soldiers Home, as well as shortage and inconsistency in the use personal protective equipment (PPEs) could have triggered the Covid-19 outbreak (Molina & Tourangeau, 2020).
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