The infectious diseases are mostly transmitted through direct person-to-person contact. This occurs when an infected person touches or exchanges body fluids with someone else. It may happen before an infected person is aware of the illness.
In most cases of common cold, the school going children catch colds from siblings, parents, other family members, playmates or caregivers. This may also happen when one shakes hands with someone who has those symptoms, or touch a surface, like a doorknob, which may have respiratory viruses on it, then touches eyes, mouth, or nose. Washing hands often with soap and water reduces the risk of contracting the symptoms.
Today, most hospitals and urgent care clinics in New York city find a plunge in the number of patients visiting the healthcare facilities. In my observation at my urgent care, and reports arriving from major hospitals in the city show a decline of 60% in patient visits. Staff in the hospitals are sent on furloughs because of the decline.
Though, a statistic has not been collected to claim an exact figure, yet this decline is visible in the number of visiting patients to healthcare units.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The spike in the Coronavirus cases has not been observed in most counties reopened recently in New York. This clearly depicts that social distancing, or non-pharmaceutical intervention in COVID-19 has produced beneficial effects to the citizens of New York.
By: Gholam Mujtaba, M.S., M.D., Ed.D., FRSPH, FICPS
Professor of Pharmacology
