Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is trending, a virus which has spread all over the world and hence is now declared a pandemic. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause common cold-like symptoms to severe respiratory diseases like Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). The current Coronavirus is termed as ‘COVID-19’ It is a whole new virus from the family which has been detected for the first time in humans.
As we all know till now that it is a highly contagious virus that is transmitted between animals and people. In the case of pets though, WHO has declared that dogs cannot have COVID-19, so, good news. The previous outbreak of viruses like SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats and dromedary camels to humans. You can track Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases on NewYork times.
Coronavirus
The symptoms of getting infected with COVID-19 include fever, cough, breath shortness, etc. If it gets worse than the person can have problems like kidney failure and pneumonia also. The most vulnerable people are kids and old people because of low immunity towards diseases. The old people, however, are most vulnerable to death in case of getting the virus.
All over the world, all the medical organizations and governments are trying very hard to create awareness for COVID-19. WHO has released a complete list of all the precautions to be taken by everyone in this serious pandemic virus outbreak.
Coronavirus Outbreak
Some standard cautions to be taken include regular washing of hands, not touching eyes, mouth, and nose very frequently, use of disinfectants like hand sanitizers, covering nose and mouth during coughing and sneezing, etc. You can get all the information from the WHO website about all the cautions and also check your countries’ official government’s website to see all the advice given by them and emergency helpline numbers to fight Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
This virus ruin the whole economy and affecting every sector, Even the IT companies are doing what they can so, Whatsapp launches info coronavirus hub and donates $1 million to International fact-checking network, Other companies like Apple closed their Stores all over world and Samsung proving free “Samsung sanitizing service” to disinfect smartphones using UV-C light, and Pornhub offering a free premium subscription to countries on Cronovirus lockdown.
The Indian government has also taken some good steps and is very actively working on this issue. A lot of awareness programs are going on, people are requested to not go outside frequently unless it is important. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared ‘Janta Curfew’ on 22 March 2020, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in which no one is allowed to roam outside as a precautionary measure.
Image credit: Indian Council of Medical Research
Apart from this, around 52 authorized Coronavirus detection test collection centers are set up all over the country, which is very low in numbers but still is useful.
A detailed list of coronavirus laboratories in India:
| State/UT | LIST OF VRDLs |
|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | 1. Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati 2. Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh 3. GMC, Anantapur, AP |
| Andaman & Nicobar islands | 1. Regional Medical Research Centre, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar |
| Assam | 1. Gauhati Medical College, Guwahati 2. Regional Medical Research Center, Dibrugarh |
| Bihar | 1. Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna |
| Chandigarh | 1. Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh |
| Chhattisgarh | 1. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Raipur |
| Delhi-NCT | 1. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Delhi 2. National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi |
| Gujarat | 1. BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad 2. M.P.Shah Government Medical College, Jamnagar |
| Haryana | 1. BPS Govt Medical College, Sonipat 2. Pt. B.D. Sharma Post Graduate Inst. of Med. Sciences, Rohtak, Haryana |
| Himachal Pradesh | 1. Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh 2. Dr.Rajendra Prasad Govt. Med. College, Kangra, Tanda, HP |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 1. Sher‐e‐ Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar 2. Government Medical College, Jammu |
| Jharkhand | 1. MGM Medical College, Jamshedpur |
| Karnataka | 1. Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute, Bangalore 2. National Institute of Virology Field Unit Bangalore 3. Mysore Medical College & Research Institute, Mysore 4. Hassan Inst. of Med. Sciences, Hassan, Karnataka 5. Shimoga Inst. of Med. Sciences, Shivamogga, Karnataka |
| Kerala | 1. National Institute of Virology Field Unit, Kerala 2. Govt. Medical College, Thriuvananthapuram, Kerala 3. Govt. Medical College, Kozhikhode, Kerala |
| Madhya Pradesh | 1. All India Institute Medical Sciences, Bhopal 2. National Institute of Research in Tribal Health (NIRTH), Jabalpur |
| Meghalaya | 1. NEIGRI of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong, Meghalaya |
| Maharashtra | 1. Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur 2. Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Mumbai |
| Manipur | 1. J N Inst. of Med. Sciences Hospital, Imphal‐East, Manipur |
| Odisha | 1. Regional Medical Research Center, Bhubaneswar |
| Puducherry | 1. Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry |
| Punjab | 1. Government Medical College, Patiala, Punjab 2. Government Medical College, Amritsar |
| Rajasthan | 1. Sawai Man Singh, Jaipur 2. Dr. S.N Medical College, Jodhpur 3. Jhalawar Medical College, Jhalawar, Rajasthan 4. SP Med. College, Bikaner, Rajasthan |
| Tamil Nadu | 1. King's Institute of Preventive Medicine & Research, Chennai 2. Government Medical College, Theni |
| Tripura | 1. Government Medical College, Agartala |
| Telangana | 1. Gandhi Medical College, Secunderabad |
| Uttar Pradesh | 1. King's George Medical University, Lucknow 2. Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 3. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh |
| Uttarakhand | 1. Government Medical College, Haldwani |
| West Bengal | 1. National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata 2. IPGMER, Kolkata |
The government of India has also set-up 24X7 helpline 1075 to address Coronavirus related queries to support citizens. You can also drop an email at ‘ncov2019@gov.in’. States have also set up helpline here are the details:
coronavirus helpline number