Abstract
COVID19 (Corona virus disease 2019) is an illness caused by novel corona virus, first reported from Wuhan in China in December 2019. This pandemic has spread to most of the countries of the world and has already taken a huge human toll. Transmission is mostly by the respiratory droplets and also by fomites. While most infected individuals have mild symptoms, a small but significant proportion of individuals develop severe bronchopneumonia, sometimes leading to multiorgan dysfunction. Common symptoms are fever, cough, myalgia, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, breathlessness etc. Diagnosis is made by clinical features in the right epidemiological setting, blood tests and usually confirmed by a PCR test with a nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab. Management is mainly supportive as currently there is no proven antiviral treatment.
 Reconfiguration of services was necessary to manage a large number of patients admitted to a UK hospital with COVID 19 disease as elective admissions were cancelled and hospital admissions due to due to other diseases significantly declined. Staff were reallocated to cope with the surge in hospital admissions. A system of training was put in place to upskill the staff. All but absolutely necessary outpatient consultations were done by telephone or videoconferencing.
 COVID 19 patients were cared for in dedicated areas of the hospital and strict infection control procedures were followed. Intensive care unit facilities with ventilators were rapidly expanded with involvement of operation theatre areas. Non-invasive respiratory support was provided in respiratory wards.
Highlights
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID -19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- COV2) continues to grow at an alarming rate since it was first detected in Dec 2019 Wuhan, China
Sometimes non-invasive respiratory support in the form of continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) or invasive ventilatory support may be necessary depending on the condition of patient
High dose steroids have been used in certain clinical settings to manage immune hyperreaction or organising pneumonia after the first week
Summary
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID -19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS- COV2) continues to grow at an alarming rate since it was first detected in Dec 2019 Wuhan, China. As of 1 May 2020, there have been 3.58 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide with 238,937 deaths reported.[1] COVID -19 has brought a tsunami of sufferings for families and communities and immense losses for the economy. It has created unprecedented health and social challenges. We would like to discuss the presentation and management of COVID-19 and share our UK experiences
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