Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on Communities and the Mitigation Efforts

Abstract

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has triggered a pandemic of a proportion that was only seen over a century ago when the Spanish flu ravaged the world in 1918. The focus of this review was to explore the impact of COVID-19 on communities and the mitigation efforts.
Discussion: The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an enormous impact on various communities; including geographical, working, those who have fled conflict areas and academic/research communities with a global surge in the demand for health and social services. There are also some positive impacts such as the boom in research output and global collaboration while bringing to the fore the very important role of public health and community medicine specialty.
Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the enormous deficiencies in health systems including the social and welfare support of various communities. There is need to sustain mitigation efforts that have been instituted and prepare for future pandemics as connected cycles while learning from the past ones.

Keywords: Communities; COVID-19; Impact; Mitigation; SARS-CoV-2