Thursday 2 April 2020

Panic of COVID – 19; IIHMR University hosted webinar to create awareness


-        Experts highlighted the importance of population segregation
-        Referring authenticated guidelines will help to get correct information

With the recent announcement of COVID- 19 declared as pandemic by WHO, there are 193 countries facing this widespread outbreak of Coronavirus which never occurred earlier. India, which is lately, reported 415 cases of Coronavirus in its second stage, it is still in a position to control, if potential measures taken by government, should be seriously followed by people. 



IIHMR University, a leading university in public health, hosted a webinar to create awareness among people on “Coronavirus #what we know and what we must do”. The expert panel of public health professionals Dr. S.D. Gupta, Chairman, IIHMR and Dr. Daya Krishan Mangal, Dean, Research IIHMR University and Fellow, Indian Public Association shared their expert opinion, on the outbreak of such an infectious virus. The webinar was attended by 470 participants across the country.

The experts urged people to maintain social distancing which helps to break all the channels of transmission, hence blocking community transmission. The panel also advice on avoiding unnecessary touching of nose, mouth or face or rather use non dominant hand and maintain cough etiquettes. They emphasized on keeping elderly people in isolation as they are more prone to infection because of low immunity by advising them to avoid morning walks as 80% elderly population died in china.



For the younger generation, the panel asked people to utilize this time in pursuing their hobbies and keeping the home bright and lighted to avoid depression.

As per their expertise, the effect of Corona outbreak will come down in next 6 to 8 weeks, if the current practices of staying at home and self-isolation are followed strictly and circulation of fake news over social media would be stopped completely. 

Dr. Pankaj Gupta, President, IIHMR University concluded the webinar by appealing people to take necessary measures to stay healthy & support government and health workers by staying indoors. He also urged to learn from the mistakes what other countries made and help preventing spread.