GUEST EDITORIAL: CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) IS HERE TO STAY!

Authors

  • Wah Yun Low Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • Maznah Dahlui Centre for Population Health, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • Nur Asyikin Yakub Centre for Population Health, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • Fatin Diyana Abdul Aziz APACPH-KL Secretariat Office, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • Tri Martiana Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.

Abstract

The beginning of this year, 2020, has been a very challenging one as all over the world, we were caught right in the midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This pandemic is a serious global health threat, and its devastating effects are felt in all aspects of life. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that as of 17th May 2020, we have 4,534,731 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 307,537 deaths in total, throughout the world. In the WHO Western Pacific region, there were 167,546 confirmed cases, and 6,730 deaths while in the WHO Southeast Region, the COVID-19 accounted for a total of 136,314 confirmed cases, and 4,425 deaths (1).  In Malaysia, the figure stood, thus far, at 6,872 confirmed cases, and 114 deaths while in Indonesia, there were 17,514 confirmed cases, and 1,148 deaths (2).  Different countries are at different phases of this pandemic. While the curve may have flattened in some countries, there might still be spikes here and there. The COVID-19 pandemic has not disappeared; it is here to stay!

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Published

2020-08-18

Issue

Vol 23 Suppl 1 (2020)

Section

Research article

License

All authors agree that the article, if editorially accepted for publication, shall be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 to allow others to freely access, copy and use research provided the author is correctly attributed, unless otherwise stated. All articles are available online without charge or other barriers to access. However, anyone wishing to reproduce large quantities of an article (250+) should inform the publisher. Any opinion expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not reflect that of the University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.