Herd immunity in COVID-19: Needs de-emphasizing.

Despite the evolving science on Covid-19 pointing to the contrary, the concept of Herd immunity continues to influence decision making in this pandemic. This paper attempts to evolve an understanding of the concept of herd immunity and its relevance in context of pandemics in general and Covid-19 in particular.

"Covishield and Covaxin" - India's contribution to global COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to bring in its wake not only morbidity and mortality but also an unprecedented challenge to public health, food systems, human dignity, and work across the world. The availability and possible delivery of a safe and effective vaccine to populations across the world are not only being seen as a hope to surmount these challenges but also as a show of human resilience in the face of adversity. Nations need to galvanize their resources and make the availability of vaccines universal, without which the real benefits of its development cannot be realized. Despite its large domestic needs, our country is being looked upon with both hope and expectation to deliver at this crucial juncture in the evolution of human civilization, and India is more than willing to do its part.

Broad guidelines for primary care practitioners/standalone private health facilities/frontline healthcare facilities in view of COVID-19 pandemic.

In view of India unlocking, to secure a large population of this country, the healthcare facilities delivering primary care as well standalone health facilities need to be secured from impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. This document dwells on the broader guidelines for primary care practitioners/standalone private health facilities/frontline healthcare facilities to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 Pandemic. The authors understand that the situation is evolving, so the guidelines too will keep evolving.

Public knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19: An online cross-sectional study in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19, since its emergence, has become a global health problem with countries adopting unprecedented measures to control the spread of this pandemic. Adherence of the populations to control measures is affected by their knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) towards the disease. It was with this aim that the present study was conducted among the residents of UT of J&K to assess their KAP toward COVID-19. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional online survey of 464 J&K residents was conducted between 1st May and 10th May 2020. Survey Monkey tool was used to develop a link and KAP questionnaire was used for data collection. The survey instrument consisted of demographic characteristics, 11 items on knowledge, 5 items on attitudes, and 7 items on practices. Data collected was represented in descriptive statistics, and one-way analysis of variance was the test of significance. RESULTS: Mean knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were 7.69 ± 0.74, 4.70 ± 0.57, and 4.32 ± 0.68, respectively, among the respondents. Majority (99%) knew the sign and symptoms, mode of transmission of the disease and avoided attending large gatherings. Use of mask was almost universal and about 38% were taking supplements like vitamins or herbal medicines. Good knowledge, positive attitude, and appropriate practices among the respondents about COVID-19 suggest that community based health education programs play a key role in containment and mitigation of this disease. CONCLUSION: Sustained messaging and updates from the national and local health authorities on COVID-19 to the public are likely to help control the transmission of the disease.

Are we prepared? Lessons from Covid-19 and OMAG position paper on epidemic preparedness.

Covid-19 has once again brought into focus our limited preparedness to deal with epidemics. Most nations, across the globe, have responded with a resolve to come stronger out of this crisis and leaderships across the world have shown great commitment to protecting its people from Covid-19. Covid-19 has also taught us a few things for the future. One such learning has been that a strong shift in focus towards non-communicable diseases driving health infrastructure across the globe for the last few decades has come at neglect of communicable diseases. In that sense, therefore, the current pandemic has been a wake-up call. Organised Medicine Academic Guild (OMAG), an umbrella organization of professional associations gathered a group of health experts to develop a policy document on epidemic preparedness to limit the influence of epidemics like Covid-19.