Global Pandemicity of COVID-19: Situation Report as of June 9, 2020

Adekunle Sanyaolu; Chuku Okorie; Zaheeda Hosein; Risha Patidar; Priyank Desai; Stephanie Prakash; Urooj Jaferi; Jasmine Mangat; Aleksandra Marinkovic

doi:10.1177/1178633721991260

Global Pandemicity of COVID-19: Situation Report as of June 9, 2020

Infect Dis (Auckl). 2021 Jan 31:14:1178633721991260. doi: 10.1177/1178633721991260. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Adekunle Sanyaolu¹, Chuku Okorie², Zaheeda Hosein³, Risha Patidar⁴, Priyank Desai⁵, Stephanie Prakash⁴, Urooj Jaferi⁶, Jasmine Mangat³, Aleksandra Marinkovic⁴

Affiliations

¹ Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, Nigeria.
² Essex County College, Newark, NJ, USA.
³ Caribbean Medical University School of Medicine, Curacao, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁴ Saint James School of Medicine, Anguilla (BWI), Park Ridge, IL, USA.
⁵ American University of Saint Vincent School of Medicine, Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
⁶ All Saints University School of Medicine, Roseau, Dominica.

Abstract

A novel coronavirus was identified as the cause of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China in December 2019. This cluster quickly spread across the globe and led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) a pandemic on March 11, 2020. It's sudden emergence, ceaseless human-to-human transmission, and rapid spread has led to continuous pandemicity. As of June 9, 2020, there were 7 039 918 confirmed cases and 404 396 deaths globally. The rate of spread of COVID-19 is affected through respiratory droplets, most commonly when infected individuals cough or talk. The virus is released through respiratory secretions that infect individuals once contact with mucous membranes is made directly or indirectly. Our research was conducted via an electronic literature review on PubMed, Google Scholar, and MedLine Plus. Data were then collected from peer-reviewed articles that included applicable keywords and published between January 1, 2020, and June 9, 2020. This article highlights the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide and indicates a higher number of mortalities in the elderly and those with comorbidities. As the number of cases increases, an immediate need to "flatten the curve" is essential to avoid catastrophic overwhelming of hospital systems across the affected countries. To do so, there is an emphasis on detection, testing, isolating the infected, and organizing the healthcare response to the virus. The rapid spread of infection has impacted over 200 countries and territories to date. This report takes a closer look at the cases, fatalities, and recoveries in different regions of the world with details regarding the geographic scale of SARS-CoV-2 spread, risks, and the subsequent impact on the countries affected. Also, this report discusses some effective measures that were carried out by some countries that helped them to mitigate the pandemic and flatten the curve of COVID-19 spread as early as possible.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; global outbreak; pandemic.