COVID-19: What approach should people take to prevent it?

Sir,

For the first time in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019, a new type of human coronavirus (COVID-19) named called severe? acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified after people developed pneumonia for no apparent reason and available vaccines and treatments were ineffective.[1] The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the pandemic on March 11, 2020. On January 30, 2020, the WHO issued a statement declaring outbreak of the new coronavirus as a public health emergency that posed a threat to the entire world, not just China.[2] One of the most important measures in disease control and prevention is health education and awareness of ways to prevent the disease in high-risk groups or groups that have an important role in disease control. On the other hand, encouraging people to change their attitude and behaviour is the another point of disease control.[3] It seems that at present, the problems of the people in dealing with the novel coronavirus are not a matter of giving awareness, but the main problem is the attitude and practice of the people toward their own knowledge. If people act on what they know and have learned, most of the problems with the COVID-19 will be solved.[4] In the course of a rational practice, members of society gain attitude from knowledge, and then, practice is formed.[5] For instance, no one in society is unaware of the dangers of smoking, and many people acknowledge the dangers of smoking, but a significant percentage of them are smokers, which means that a reasonable course of knowledge, attitude, and practice has not been performed.[67] In addition, citizens, must accept their social responsibility to prevent the novel coronavirus and prevent it from spreading further by adhering to health protocols and preventive measures against COVID-19 infection, including social distancing, wearing masks, and gloves.[8] This is no longer a personal issue and will overshadow the whole society. Furthermore, the role of people's cooperation with health policy-makers is also very important because individual prevention is not necessarily enough to prevent the spread of this disease. People in the community should work together to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission and change their lifestyle to prevent the disease. It seems that at present, “calmness and hope” and “conscious fear” among people in the community can be very effective in changing their attitudes and practices in observing the prevention points of novel coronavirus, and ultimately this change in attitude will lead to a change in behaviour.

People in the community and at-risk groups are expected to behave in a number of correct ways. They should wear masks, wash their hands regularly with soap and water, observe social distancing and be less likely to attend mass gatherings, and provide a healthy and comfortable life for themselves and their family members with peace, accept their social responsibility to prevent the novel coronavirus and hope to prevent this contagious disease.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.