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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It is a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected more than 35 million people globally, with more than 1 million deaths recorded by WHO as of Oct 12, 2020. As a second wave of COVID-19 affects Europe, and with winter approaching, we need clear communication about the risks posed by COVID-19 and effective strategies to combat them. Here, we share our view of the current evidence-based consensus on COVID-19.
SARS-CoV-2 spreads through contact (via larger droplets and aerosols), and longer-range transmission via aerosols, especially in conditions where ventilation is poor.

This global pandemic didn’t just took lives and affected the people in terms of health, it affected the whole country and its economy. The pandemic has been affecting the entire food system and has laid bare its fragility. Border closures, trade restrictions and confinement measures have been preventing farmers from accessing markets, including for buying inputs and selling their produce, and agricultural workers from harvesting crops, thus disrupting domestic and international food supply chains and reducing access to healthy, safe and diverse diets. The pandemic has decimated jobs and placed millions of livelihoods at risk. As breadwinners lose jobs, fall and die, the food security and nutrition of millions of women and men are under threat, with those in low-income countries, particularly the most marginalized populations, which include small-scale farmers and indigenous peoples, being hardest hit.

Manila, Philippines - President Rodrigo Duterte has put the entire Philippine Island of Luzon under an "Enhance Community Quarantine (ECQ)" to stop the spread of coronavirus infections.

"Only establishments that provide services like food and medicine shall be open," said Duterte.

The President instructed the labour and social welfare departments to implement measures that would alleviate the burden of the lockdown on small business and wage workers. He also urged businesses to release the mandatory 13th-month pay to their employees.

Millions of people n the Philippines were left confined after the introduction of surprise quarantine measures that have cause chaos in the capital, Manila, as the countries across south-east Asia imposed sweeping restrictions in response to a recent wave of coronavirus cases.

Footage from Manila showed long queues of workers stranded at checkpoints, and commuters scrambling to climb on the back of crowded lorries after a ban on public transport that was introduced at midnight with just a few hours of warning.

In the immediate aftermath of the lockdown, poor Filipinos especially were distraught by the prospect of contending with hunger. With no available sources of income and virtually nonexistence savings, may homeless and slum dwellers bore the brunt of the ECQ.

•    Maintain at least a 1-metre distance between yourself and others to reduce your risk of infection when they cough, sneeze or speak. Maintain an even greater distance between yourself and others when indoors. The further away, the better.


Make wearing a mask a normal part of being around other people.


Here are the basics of how to wear a mask:


• Clean your hands before you put your mask on, as well as before and after you take it off.
• Make sure it covers both your nose, mouth and chin.


Here are some specifics on what type of mask to wear and when, depending on how much virus is circulating where you live, where you go and who you are.


• Wear a fabric mask unless you’re in a particular risk group. This is especially important when you can’t stay physically distanced, particularly in crowded and poorly ventilated indoor settings.
• Wear a medical/surgical mask.


Don’t forget the basics of good hygiene


• Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and infect you.
• Cover your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately into a closed bin and wash your hands.


By following good ‘respiratory hygiene’, you protect the people around you from viruses, which cause colds, flu and COVID-19.
Clean and disinfect surfaces frequently especially those which are regularly touched, such as door handles, faucets and phone screens.