Wang Nan Fang
Year 6 medical student from University of New South Wales
Globally, 2020 was an unprecedented year with COVID-19 bringing the world to a standstill with a worldwide death toll of 5.3 million at the time of writing. The billion-dollar question would be finding a solution to curtail the spread of the illness and to minimize the human and economic losses. Herein, I propose disease Y protocol, a national response that can be executed in response to a global pandemic. When battling with an unknown virus in a highly interconnected world, it is safer to be proactive rather than reactive, as COVID-19 has clearly shown its ability of spreading faster than what man can contact trace. A multi-pronged approach with five key components is required internationally with cooperation from various stakeholders to control the pandemic. Firstly, early identification and notification of the potential disease, and circulation of information regarding the pathogen in the country of origin. Secondly, preventing the spread of the pathogen locally through various measures such as that seen in Wuhan. Thirdly, preventing the spread worldwide via travel bans, hotel quarantine, increasing testing rates, manual/digital contact tracing, social distancing and early vaccination. Fourthly, preparation for a surge in hospital admissions by: delaying elective surgeries; increasing the capacity of isolation unit/intensive care units; retraining staff to manage infectious disease; purchasing required equipment and to triage asymptomatic patients that can be managed as an outpatient. Lastly, to be prepared for the next pandemic, we should direct funds towards vaccine research which would reduce the time required for vaccine production.