Indian Journal of Ophthalmology

REVIEW ARTICLE
Year
: 2020  |  Volume : 68  |  Issue : 5  |  Page : 703--710

COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned and future directions


Rohit C Khanna1, Maria Vittoria Cicinelli2, Suzanne S Gilbert3, Santosh G Honavar4, Gudlavalleti S V Murthy5 
1 Allen Foster Community Eye Health Research Centre, Gullapalli Pratibha Rao International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eyecare, LV Prasad Eye Institute; Brien Holden Eye Research Centre, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India; School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; University of Rochester, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, USA
2 Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, Scientific Institute San Raffaele, via Olgettina, Milan, Italy
3 Senior Director, Research, Seva Foundation, Berkeley, California; North America Region Chair, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness; President, International Society of Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology, India
4 Editor, Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, Centre for Sight, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
5 International Centre for Eye Health, Department of Clinical Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom; Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Rohit C Khanna
L V Prasad Eye Institute, L V Prasad Marg, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500 034, Telangana

Emerging pandemics show that humans are not infallible and communities need to be prepared. Coronavirus outbreak was first reported towards the end of 2019 and has now been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Worldwide countries are responding differently to the virus outbreak. A delay in detection and response has been recorded in China, as well as in other major countries, which led to an overburdening of the local health systems. On the other hand, some other nations have put in place effective strategies to contain the infection and have recorded a very low number of cases since the beginning of the pandemics. Restrictive measures like social distancing, lockdown, case detection, isolation, contact tracing, and quarantine of exposed had revealed the most efficient actions to control the disease spreading. This review will help the readers to understand the difference in response by different countries and their outcomes. Based on the experience of these countries, India responded to the pandemic accordingly. Only time will tell how well India has faced the outbreak. We also suggest the future directions that the global community should take to manage and mitigate the emergency.


How to cite this article:
Khanna RC, Cicinelli MV, Gilbert SS, Honavar SG, Murthy GS. COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned and future directions.Indian J Ophthalmol 2020;68:703-710


How to cite this URL:
Khanna RC, Cicinelli MV, Gilbert SS, Honavar SG, Murthy GS. COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned and future directions. Indian J Ophthalmol [serial online] 2020 [cited 2024 Mar 28 ];68:703-710
Available from: https://journals.lww.com/ijo/pages/default.aspx/article.asp?issn=0301-4738;year=2020;volume=68;issue=5;spage=703;epage=710;aulast=Khanna;type=0