Here’s what you Need to Know about Coronavirus Remedies and Lockdowns Chinmay Follow Apr 2 · 4 min read

The Covid-19 disease or SARS-CoV 2 is caused by a virus called the Novel Coronavirus, a virus previously unknown to scientists. It belongs to the same coronavirus family that caused the deadly SARS (2002–03) and MERS (2012) epidemics.

Furthermore, the virus exhibits an extraordinary power to mutate rapidly, which makes it practically immune to all the present antiviral drugs. So, here’s the million-dollar question — What are its remedies?

CORONAVIRUS REMEDIES

Presently, no simple medicinal remedies exist for this new virus. However, sharing its bonds with the illness of influenza and HIV, some doses of Swine Flu and AIDS drugs have resulted in reproductive suppression of the virus in some cases. Further, the use of malaria drug worked in a couple of examples but is highly controversial among doctors. The medical trial of these drugs, however, failed.

The most crucial information to note about treating this virus is to understand its morphological structure and physiological functions.

A virus is not like a regular living cell. It does not exhibit living properties unless it infects a host and uses its cellular apparatus to make more viruses. They are covered with protein layers within which lies the RNA or DNA strand, which contains all its genetic material.

Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash

The new coronavirus is spherical, with crown-like projections of protein protruding on its surface. The virus attaches to the host cell using these projections and then injects its genetic material into the cell. The host cell is then turned into a mass virus-producer.

So, how do we stop it? Most of the antiviral drugs attack the projections which bind with the cell, making it so stiff the virus can no more connect to the host cells. But it is not so easy to develop an antiviral drug because it involves extensive research, which is not available for a completely new virus. Furthermore, human trials take even more time for confirmation.

Thus, no effective drug exists for this virus. Medicines are being scanned continuously, but it is always better to observe some preventive measures.

LOCKDOWN AND CORONAVIRUS PREVENTIONS

There is a reason why global leaders are urging everyone to stay at home. The virus is new, and it spreads through respiratory droplets and contaminated surfaces very swiftly. One should not touch their eyes, nose, or mouth after touching or contacting a suspected infected object or person.

Lockdown has proved useful for virus prevention in the past. During many outbreaks, the lockdown was imposed. But ineffective execution worsened the situation. As an instance, during the Great Plague of Marseilles during the 1720s, ineffective sealing and quarantining of a ship killed nearly 100,000 people. During the Spanish flu of 1920, about 50 million people died. The news was hushed up because the disease first started in the war frontiers. No war nation could have wanted to risk the lives of their men, but lockdown and quarantine would mean retreating from frontlines. This, in turn, affected one-thirds of the world population.

During the First Cholera Outbreak of Calcutta, India, infected soldiers from British India travelled far and wide, carrying the disease with them.

Learning from these instances and building on them is crucial during these testing times. People should follow lockdown for their good. The effect of the coronavirus depends on the lockdown measures and its effectiveness in countries of high population density.

FLATTENING THE CURVE

You must have heard this term being repeated across articles. In layman’s terms, our health care system only has a specific strength for handling patients. This is governed by factors such as number of doctors, nurses, hospitals, ventilators, and medicines. When a pandemic hits, the health care system is heavily pressurized. Patients begin to swell, and the healthcare system fails to accommodate all of them. This means that the curve showing the number of patients rises abruptly in the form of a sharp crest, going far above the roofs of our health care system’s capacity.

Source- The New York Times

Thus, patients are so many that it becomes difficult to handle. This is what is happening in Italy. In a lockdown, we try to slow down the rate of increase in the number of cases, giving an ample amount of time for our system to treat and discharge patients. This is what we call, “flattening the curve.” We try to flatten the crest of swelling cases to bring it under the roof of our healthcare system. This has proved to be useful in China, where more hospitals were built to cushion the blow of the pandemic.

Another instance of this has been case reporting from slum regions. For example, in the slums of Dharavi, India, where a million people live in an area of just five square kilometres — diagnosis, sealing, lockdown, and disinfection — would prove to be a significant challenge. In such regions, quarantining and early case detection would help to flatten the curve and save the system from a substantial case explosion.

PREVENTION

Prevention is better than cure. When the highly developed countries like the USA, China, and Italy have taken such a huge blow, other developing countries should take some lessons. It is imminent that lockdown has to be effectively practiced, but proper sanitation is even more crucial. Community areas have to be kept clean to prevent such diseases. Hospitals and densely inhabited areas should be regularly sprayed with disinfecting solutions.

One should observe respiratory hygiene and maintain social distance to avoid contracting this virus. Stay vigilant and don’t fall prey to rumours!

TAKE CARE! STAY SAFE!

Special thanks to Rohan Kalonia.