The Complete Guide to the Latest News on the Coronavirus

With the world at the mercy of the coronavirus, it’s never been more important to stay up to date on the latest news story relating to the pandemic.

While there’s still much that we don’t know about this pandemic, one thing is for sure – it won’t be getting any easier to keep track of all the developing news stories relating to the pandemic.

Keeping up with all the news these days isn’t easy. Between the dramatic upswing in cases globally and the seemingly endless stream of information relating to the pandemic, it can be hard to keep on top of what’s going on and what you need to know.

This is precisely why we’ve decided to put together this comprehensive guide. In it, you’ll find all the latest news related to the coronavirus, including stories from around the world. We’ll also highlight key developments that you may not have heard of, but which play a crucial role in improving your overall life during these challenging times.

Latest Developments

The Covid-19 pandemic is far from over. In fact, as of July 30, 2020, there were 2,850,526 confirmed cases of the coronavirus globally and at least 177,869 deaths. More than a month later, the number of cases has more than doubled, with 6,394,935 cases and 398,741 deaths as of August 31, 2020.

Even now, as we head into the second half of September, signs point to the pandemic continuing to loom large over the global community. On September 1, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that there were almost certainly more cases of Covid-19 than the publicly available data could account for. They argued that the real number of cases could be as many as ten times higher than the officially reported figures indicate.

That the true number of cases isn’t easily calculable is a major blow to efforts to bring the pandemic to a close. It suggests that while there are signs that the pandemic is gradually winding down – with mortality rates falling and cases decreasing – we’re still very much in the midst of what many have described as the ‘new normal’ of the pandemic. Sadly, the world is now all too well aware that the ‘new normal’ can be a whole lot worse than the ‘old normal’ that preceded it. It remains to be seen whether or not history will judge the pandemic’s cost-benefit analysis in favor of the positive.

Coronavirus Testing

Testing is crucial in any epidemiological investigation, and it’s never been more important in these last few months. It allows for the tracking of the spread of the virus and for the development of much-needed treatment and prevention measures. In the case of the coronavirus, widespread testing was initially limited to China, where the pandemic began. However, it wasn’t until recently that the rest of the world started to get swept up in the epidemic as well. Testing has now been adopted as a crucial part of the global effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

On April 7, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement declaring the coronavirus outbreak a ‘global health emergency’. They called for “rapid, widespread and systematic surveillance”, and urged governments to adopt a “holistic approach” which takes into account “all aspects of public health, including social determinants”. Even prior to this, governments and healthcare organizations in rich countries had already started screening patients for the virus. As a result, testing surged in the so-called ‘Global North’ while testing still remains limited in the so-called ‘Global South’.

Virtual Care

With healthcare organizations and governmental bodies scrambling to meet the demands created by the pandemic, the need for alternative care approaches has never been greater. One of the most effective ways of providing healthcare during the pandemic is via virtual care. This involves the use of online platforms and tools to provide healthcare services to patients who would otherwise have to undergo lengthy and potentially dangerous hospital admissions. A number of virtual care platforms have already sprung up during the pandemic, with more set to follow.

While there are many advantages to virtual care, one of the most significant is its potential to alleviate the burden that healthcare professionals and governments are facing due to the pandemic.

In the near future, many believe that virtual care will become the new normal during the pandemic and beyond.

Treatments And Prevention

The other key area of progress during the pandemic involves the development of treatments and prevention measures. To start with the treatments, as of July 30, 2020, there were 382 officially approved medications, vaccines and drug therapies for the coronavirus. These included medications for treating symptoms such as fever and respiratory symptoms, as well as treatments for preventing the disease. More than half of these medications were developed within the last year and were mainly tested on animal models or in labs.

Prevention is also an important area of effort during these last few months. Efforts in this area include everything from vaccination to the use of masks. It’s also important to keep in mind the different stages of prevention that you should be seeking to address. For example, if you’re seeking to prevent the spread of the coronavirus then you should be focusing on limiting contact with those who are more likely to contract the disease. This may mean avoiding mass gatherings or going into more details about how you will prevent the spread of the virus.

However, the most effective prevention measures can be found in those individuals who are most at risk of contracting the disease. In these cases, you should be seeking to find out which vaccinations you need and adhering to them. This will help to protect you and your family from the devastating effects of this pandemic. On that note, it’s also important to understand which masks work best for you as well as identifying proper ways of disposing of them. Unfortunately, much of this information is still to be found online, where it’s often hard to keep track of all the information that’s being tossed around. This has led to the rise of many ‘fake news’ websites which purport to provide ‘news’ on the pandemic but which are simply focused on sensationalism and profit maximization. In these last few months, it’s been essential to separate the wheat from the chaff by seeking out reliable and authoritative news websites.

This is why we’ve decided to put together this guide. We hope that it will prove useful in helping you keep track of all the latest news relating to the coronavirus. Even more importantly, we hope that the information in it will help you to prepare for the eventuality of a global health crisis like this one again.