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COVID-19
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Background
COVID-19 is the disease caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. WHO first learned of this new virus on 31 December 2019, following a report of a cluster of cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. WHO FAQs COVID 19
COVID 19 resources for Pharmacy Teams can be found here
Terminology
COVID-19 is the disease caused by SARS-Cov-2, which is part of a large family of viruses called Coronaviruses (CoV).
Coronaviruses cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe illnesses such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).
COVID-19 is referred to as being ‘novel’, as it had not been previously identified in humans prior to the outbreak in Wuhan, China in 2019.
Further information
There has been a lot of misinformation about COVID-19 and it is important to always use a reputable source such as WHO. WHO has developed a series of mythbusters to help combat some of the mis-information: Advice for Public- Myth Busters
100 questions from London School of Health & Tropical Medicine
Variants
Information below is taken from WHO Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants
All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, change over time. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus’ properties. However, some changes may affect the virus’s properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance of vaccines, therapeutic medicines, diagnostic tools, or other public health and social measures.
Some variations allow the virus to spread more easily or make it resistant to treatments or vaccines. Those variants must be monitored more carefully and are known as Variants of concern. The WHO tracks SARS-CoV2 variants:
WHO has assigned simple, easy to say and remember labels for key variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, using letters of the Greek alphabet.
Stopping the spread of COVID-19 disease.
Good Infection Prevention Control is essential in stopping the spread of COVID-19 Links to training resources
WHO advice can be found at: COVID-19: Infection prevention and control / WASH
The list below contain some key online learning portals for COVID-19:
WHO COVID-19 online training- numerous courses including infection control, vaccination, operational and clinical management.
Health Education England e-Learning for Healthcare (HEE e-LfH): COVID-19
Future Learn Courses -Future Learn COVID-19 courses including: