Medical Perspective on COVID-19

In December 2019, a series of acute respiratory illnesses were first reported in central China. Investigations have led to the identification of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), subsequently designated as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), as the causative agent of the so-called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since its emergence, SARS-CoV-2 has spread rapidly across the globe, resulting in the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed the lives of millions of people throughout the world and continues to do so. Beginning with a brief overview of different historical and contemporary theories of infectious diseases, this chapter moves on to review the most recent literature on the origin, structure, pathogenesis, host immune responses, viral evasion of the host immunity, and mutated variants of SARS-CoV-2. In addition, patients' clinical characteristics and risk factors, clinical trials, preventative measures, and the COVID-19 death toll among different countries are discussed. We also overview the utilization of various technologies in the battle against the pandemic, the impact of the pandemic on clinical research and trials, medical insurance, biomedical waste (BMW) generation and management, and the clinical lessons learned. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Psychological Perspectives on COVID-19

Background: A considerable quantity of research supports the findings that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced individuals’ psychological wellbeing and behaviours. Purpose: This chapter aims to provide an overview of some of the current studies examining psychological responses of various groups across cultures in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic employing the behavioural immune system (BIS) framework and terror management theory (TMT) as a theoretical lens. Methodology: Online databases are used to conduct a literature review of some of the studies carried out during the global pandemic between 2019 and 2021. Results: The pandemic has had an overall detrimental effect on everyone to some extent, with a disproportionate impact on more vulnerable populations. Conclusion and Recommendation: People continue to cope with the death anxiety from the perspective of the TMT and are driven to avoid pathogens from the BIS viewpoint in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic;however, given the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on vulnerable groups, it is recommended that societies prioritize equity-oriented public health measures to ensure the population’s future wellbeing. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.