COVID-19: is there an end in sight

The outbreak of novel coronavirus infection started initially in Wuhan of China in December 2019. Covid-19 quickly spread to become a global pandemic in the months of February-March  2020 across all the continents. During the initial period of the spread of the disease, the pathophysiology of the infective process was not well understood, and treatment modalities were not standardized. There were high morbidity and mortality in several countries of the world. Gradually the pathological changes in the disease process were better understood and new treatment regimes evolved. The role of steroids in controlling the hyper-immune reactions in severely ill cases, along with the antiviral drug Remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies like Tocilizumab is well established as standard treatment. The standard treatment regime with convalescent plasma therapy has reduced the case fatality rate considerably. Patients requiring high flow oxygen therapy and ventilation in critically ill cases requiring ICU care are gradually increasing in number, and it is going to cause problems in the management of the already stressed-out health care infrastructure. With the increase in the testing facilities like RTPCR, Truant and Rapid antigen test, the number of positive cases is also increasing day by day, and the concept of keeping the asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic cases in home isolation is gaining ground. Research for development of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent for Covid-19 is progressing well in many centres in the world and most of them are in phase 2 and 3 of human trial. Until such time an effective and safe vaccine is available, social distancing, use of face masks and hand hygiene are the only ways to prevent the spread of Covid-19.