The Strategic Role of Healthcare Professionals in the Battle Against COVID-19: Do We Really Need Help from Community Pharmacists?

ABSTRACT

Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, was recognised in December 2019 as the centre of an outbreak of an unknown originator of pneumonia. Intense concentrations of illness spread throughout China and, ultimately, globally. Consequently, on 7th January, 2020, Chinese researchers identified a case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in an affected person in Wuhan as the cause. Symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 vary from mild (fever, dry cough, difficulty in breathing, and pain in muscles) to severe (acute respiratory distress syndrome [ARDS}, azotemia or acute renal failure, ventilation associated pneumonia [VAP], and shock from sepsis). In a multidisciplinary team, pharmacists play a strategic role as medical healthcare professionals in restricting the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 and can serve as sentinels in their communities to control and counteract this epidemic domestically. Key Words SARS-CoV-2, Community pharmacists, Frontline healthcare workers.