Abstract
Since the initial spark of the COVID-19 outbreak in December 2019, which was later declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a global pandemic, all affected countries are implementing various preventive and control measures to mitigate the spread of the disease. The newly emerging virus brings with it uncertainty—not only regarding its behavior and transmission dynamics but also regarding the current lack of approved antiviral therapy or vaccines—and this represents a major challenge for decision makers at various levels and sectors. This article aims to provide an early overview of the COVID-19 battle within the Jordanian context, including general reflections and conclusions on the value of collaborative efforts in crises management.
Highlights
It has been over five decades since the first discovery of human coronaviruses (1)
A series of outbreaks and epidemics of respiratory illnesses have been attributed to various types of these viruses, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which were caused by SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, respectively, in addition to the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (1, 2)
On the 30th of January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a global public health emergency, and, upon the exponential increase in the number of cases and countries affected by the disease, COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic on the 11th of March 2020 (4–6)
Summary
A series of outbreaks and epidemics of respiratory illnesses have been attributed to various types of these viruses, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which were caused by SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, respectively, in addition to the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (1, 2). COVID-19 is caused by novel SARS-CoV-2, which, to a certain degree, possesses genomic similarities to MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV (2, 3). These coronaviruses are transmitted from their animal origins to humans through an intermediate host, such as camels in the case of MERS and civet cats in the case of SARS (1, 4). On the 30th of January 2020, the WHO declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a global public health emergency, and, upon the exponential increase in the number of cases and countries affected by the disease, COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic on the 11th of March 2020 (4–6)
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