Name: Bedecir, Shanice Shaira D.

BSN-1 Date: August 4, 2020

New Threat to National Security (The COVID 19 Pandemic)

1. What is COVID 19 pandemic all about?

COVID-19 is the name of the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus, SARS-

CoV-2. Coronaviruses are a large family of enveloped, non-segmented, single-stranded, positive-

sense RNA viruses that circulate among animals including camels, cats, and bats. The

transmission of this virus occurred person-to-person through droplets produced by coughing or

sneezing, via personal contact, and by touching contaminated surfaces. As of today Philippines

already has total cases of 85,486.

2. COVID 19 UPDATE as of July 31, 2020 of Top Ten (10) Countries and compare that to the

Philippines. You may present this using the table format below:

Countries: Total Confirmed Cases Total Active Cases Total Recoveries Total

Death/Mortalities
1. United States 4,493,661 2,927,466 1, 414,155

152,040
2. Brazil 2, 610,102 562,032 1,956,807

91,263
3. India 1,582,028 527,332 1,019,740

34,956
4. Russia 832,993 190,733 628,482

13,778
5. South Africa 482,169 164,756 309,601

7,812
6. Mexico 416,179 91,479 320,100

46,000
7. Peru 400,683 101,823 280,044

18,816
8. Chile 353,536 17,531 326,628

9,377
9. United Kingdom 303,910 256,388 1,438

46,084
10. Iran 301,530 23,761 261,200

16,569

While Philippines has a:

Total Confirmed Cases: 93,354.

Total Active Case: 26,153

Total Recoveries: 65,178.

Total Death: 2,023.

3. Where & when did COVID 19 start to infect humans?

The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The World Health

Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30

January, and a pandemic on 11 March.

4. How does COVID 19 compare with seasonal influenza?

While COVID-19 and flu viruses are thought to spread in similar ways, COVID-19 is

more contagious among certain populations and age groups than flu. Also, COVID-19 has been

observed to have more super spreading events than flu. This means the virus that causes COVID-
19 can quickly and easily spread to a lot of people and result in continuous spreading among

people as time progresses.

5. How is COVID 19 related to other human viruses?

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are known to cause illness ranging from

the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet

cats to humans in China in 2002 and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans in Saudi

Arabia in 2012. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet

infected humans.

6. What causes people to be at high risk for complication from COVID 19?

This would include people over age 65 and those living with heart disease, diabetes,

obesity, chronic lung disease, immunity problems or cancer.

7. Why do scientists think that COVID 19 came from bats?

Scientists do agree that COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus from an animal. COVID-

19 is a zoonosis, a human disease of animal origin. However, the animal source of SARS-CoV-2,

the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, has not yet been confirmed. It is likely to have its

ancestral origins in a bat species but it probably reached humans through an intermediary species

(pangolins have been suggested), or mutated within humans to be able to be transmitted between

people and cause disease.

8. Why do scientists not know if people who have corona virus will have immunity?

Because there is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19

and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.

9. Why does hand washing prevent infections?

Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses

that may be on your hands.

10. What is the best protection for people helping care for a person with COVID 19?

Wearing of mask, PPE, drinking vitamins and healthy foods will protect you from

accumulating the virus.

11. What is the best type of homemade &/or manufactured face mask?

Surgical grade N95 respirators offer the highest level of protection against Covid-19

because it has filter that can help preventing the virus to go inside our body.

12. Do lock downs help reduce corona virus transmission?

Lockdowns may have devastating economic effects in our country but I believe that lock

downs contributes a big help in reducing the transmission of the virus in the Philippines, it lessen

the numbers of total cases in the Philippines because people has no choice but to stay at home.

13. What is the best self-treatment for COVID 19 for mild cases who stay at home?

The most commonly reported symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, dry cough,

shortness of breath, tiredness, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore

throat, and sudden loss of taste or smell. The best self-treatment with mild symptoms are have a

plenty of rest, drink a lot fluids, and buy some over-the-counter (OTC) medicines that can help in

managing mild symptoms.

14. What are the steps for developing a COVID 19 vaccine?

There are five stages to the process:

 1. Discovery research takes 2-5 years and involves lab-based research looking to find

ways to induce an immune response at a molecular level.

2. The pre-clinical stage takes 2 years and involves testing in animals to assess the safety

and suitability of potential vaccines for humans.

3. Clinical development involves testing potential vaccines in humans and has three

phases:

o Phase I – testing for safety – takes 2 years and requires 10-50 people to take part

in trials.

o Phase II – understanding the immune response – takes 2-3 years and requires

hundreds of people to take part in trials.

o Phase III – assessing if the vaccine candidate protects against the disease – takes

5-10 years and requires thousands of people to take part in trials.

4. Regulatory review and approval involves submitting data and information to regulators

to gain approval for vaccines and can take 2 years.

5. Manufacturing and delivery require specialist facilities that are highly regulated and

expensive to develop.

15. Do you understand why it is important to stay home? Has the stay at home order changed the

rate of other infections?

Yes, staying at home is important because by doing so, the number of cases of those that

are infected will decline because the virus can only infect few people that were exposed to those

who caught the virus. It is best to stay at home to prevent the rise of COVID-19 Confirmed

Cases in our community and country while we are waiting for the vaccine.
16. What is an antiviral drug & how does it differ from a vaccine?

Antivirals are drugs that can treat people who have already been infected by a virus. They

also can be used to prevent or limit infection when given before or shortly after exposure, before

illness occurs. While a vaccine are designed to induce a protective immune response in the body

against the viruses represented in the vaccine. When vaccinated, the immune system of the body

produces a specific response, consisting of specific T cells and specific antibodies that fight off

the infection when exposure to the virus occurs at a later stage.

17. What is a protease inhibitor & how does it work?

Protease inhibitors are a class of antiviral drugs that are widely used to treat HIV/AIDS

and hepatitis C. Protease inhibitors prevent viral replication by selectively binding to viral

proteases and blocking proteolytic cleavage of protein precursors that are necessary for the

production of infectious viral particles. It works by blocking a protease (an HIV enzyme). By

blocking protease, it prevents new (immature) HIV from becoming a mature virus that can infect

other CD4 cells.

18. Why COVID 19 considered Pandemic?

COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. This is due to the rapid increase in the

number of cases outside China over the past 2 weeks that has affected a growing number of

countries.