COVID-19: A review of protective measures

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) started as a pneumonia of unknown etiology in 44 patients in the Wuhan city of China and has progressed into a pandemic affecting more than 4.7 million people to date. The morbidity, mortality, and socioeconomic consequences of the disease are grave. Personal protective measures taken by the general public and health-care providers along with the implementation of strategies, policies, and legislation at the state, national, and international levels are important to limit the community spread of COVID-19. Well-articulated protocols decrease confusion and increase the efficiency of the working staff, thus playing an important role in the protection of both the patients and health-care providers. In this review, we discuss the guidelines and protocols for the preventive measures to be implemented when dealing with patients in health-care establishments, especially with regard to performing imaging studies, surgeries, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), disposal of medical waste, and the last rites of the body of the deceased.