The Science of CoViD-19: Nature and Prevention of the Disease

Eldrin Steven Dones & Ruben Gabas

FRIDAY, October 23 – As part of the proper handling and eradication of the global pandemic, the Letran SHS community participated in a webinar entitled, “The Science of Covid-19 Nature and Prevention of the Disease”, via Facebook Live.

Hosted by Shannele Cortez, the webinar commenced with the opening remarks led by the STEM Learning Area Coordinator, Ms. Monique Molina followed by the introduction of the webinar’s guest speakers, Ms. Christine Romero, a Doctor of Medicine (ongoing) from Metropolitan Medical Center, and Dr. Kim Acosta, a Licensed Physician at Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center whose job is to enlighten everyone about the said topic.

To begin with, Dr. Christine Romero first talked about the webinar’s agendas that are to be tackled along the way which started with the discussion of the Characteristics of the COVID-19 virus “Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-Cov) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-Cov)” Dr. Romero said. Furthermore, the speaker explained the Properties of the Virus such as its size (120 to 160nm), symptoms, and that the virus is species-specific among humans. Afterward, Dr. Romero discussed the Timeline of Covid-19 in the Philippines since the beginning of its duration.

According to her, on December 31, 2019, cases of pneumonia detected in Wuhan, China were the first ones to be reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). Come after, January 7, 2020, Chinese authorities confirmed that they have identified the virus as a novel coronavirus, initially named as the “2019-nCoV” by WHO. February 2, 2020, a man in the Philippines dies from the coronavirus – the first time a death has been reported outside mainland China since the outbreak began. Subsequently, on February 11, 2020, the WHO named the coronavirus as Covid-19 that is still known up to this day. March 11, 2020, the WHO declares the novel coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic. June 2, 2020, Wuhan’s Health Commission announces that it has completed coronavirus tests on 9.9 million of its residents with no new confirmed cases found. June 26, 2020, during a virtual media briefing, the WHO announced that it plans to deliver about 2 billion doses of a coronavirus vaccine to people across the globe. August 23, 2020, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the use of convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19. September 4, 2020, the first peer-reviewed results of Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine were published in the medical journal, The Lancet.

After that, Dr. Romero discussed the current COVID-19 Update in the Philippines. As of October 21, 2020, the country has already recorded 360,775 total cases (+1,640 added on October 20). Following, the signs and symptoms of the said disease were elaborated wherein Dr. Romero explained the Most Common Symptoms such as fever, dry cough, tiredness; and the Less Common Symptoms such as aches and pains, sore throat, diarrhea, conjunctivitis, headache, loss taste or smell and rash on the skin, or discoloration of fingers or toes; Lastly, the more Serious Symptoms such as difficulty in breathing, chest pain, loss of speech or movement.

Dr. Romero also displayed images of the survivors from the said virus including TV personalities like Tom Hanks, Patient 2828 (Howie Severino), Iza Calzado, Dr. Carmina from UST, the youngest and oldest Covid survivor, and also the fallen heroes who fought until their last breath for the Filipino people.

Dr. Romero also informed the students about the prevention and how to handle covid-19 by means of practicing Social Distancing, proper handwashing, practicing proper cough etiquette, wearing protective gear, eating nutritious food, sleeping for at least 8 hours, and taking the needed vitamins. In addition, the speaker also gave an advisory to stop being paranoid, attending large gatherings, not taking care of yourself, and reading or listening to fake news. Lastly, she gave emphasis on continuing to be informed regarding the pandemic as her part was concluded.

Moving forward, Dr. Kim Acosta, the second guest speaker, as she was sharing a short background of the pandemic, she can be observed wearing a face mask and currently on-duty working in a hospital as a medical frontliner.

To begin her talk, she first described what it’s like to work in a medical setting especially in this time of a pandemic. She talked about the difficulty not only of medical workers but also everyone who was greatly affected by the unexpected crisis. Further, the speaker acknowledged everyone who is eagerly following the Quarantine protocols and spreading authentic information about the disease stating that it is also a way to help healthcare workers like her. As a message to everyone, she stated that the Filipino community is in need of future doctors and nurses who will contribute greatly to times like these.

Furthermore, she also acknowledged the efforts and sacrifices of her fellow health workers and other personnel for working hand-in-hand every day in coping with the said pandemic. And although they are working very efficiently, she mentioned that there are still numerous difficulties with regards to their daily life as frontliners including the lack of sufficient medical supplies and facilities in hospitals, and disregarding close contact in assessing suspected patients that make their experience strenuous.

Subsequently, the speaker shared and described some of her experiences with different patients ever since the beginning of the pandemic up until the present and how different the past routine to the new normal is. Following, she also displayed some images of her daily life as a frontliner including her colleagues and how they work together as a team against the virus. Moreover, she mentions the times when all the medical workers are all exhausted, and when the hospital was left with bare numbers of workers.

Despite the presence of such a virus, she also mentioned that even if there are difficulties in working as a medical worker, there are still many positive scenarios that inspire them to continue wherein they would feel the love of the Filipino community towards them including help and assistance for their equipment and protective gear.

After providing prevention and well-being guidelines, she concluded her talk by saying ‘Yes’ to aspiring medical health workers.

The webinar then proceeded to the question and answer session tackling concerns regarding possible infected surfaces, the probable transmission of the virus, preventive gear, vaccines, and household precautionary measures.