COVID-19: A master stroke of Nature

Sushant K Singh; Sushant K Singh

doi:10.3934/publichealth.2020033

AIMS Public Health

2020, Volume 7, Issue 2: 393-402. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2020033

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Commentary Special Issues

COVID-19: A master stroke of Nature

Sushant K Singh ^,

Artificial Intelligence and Analytics, Healthcare and Life Science, Virtusa Corporation, New York, NY, USA

Received: 13 May 2020 Accepted: 17 June 2020 Published: 22 June 2020

This article presents the status of countries affected by COVID-19 (as of mid-May 2020) and their preparedness to combat the after-effects of the pandemic. The report also provides an analysis of how human behavior may have triggered such a global pandemic and why humans need to consider living sustainably to make our future world livable for all. COVID-19 originated in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019. As of mid-May, it has spread to 213 countries and territories worldwide. The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, with a death toll of over 300,000 to date. The U.S. is currently the most impacted country. Collaborative efforts of scientists and politicians across the world will be needed to better plan and utilize global health resources to combat this global pandemic. Machine learning-based prediction models could also help by identifying potential COVID-19-prone areas and individuals. The cause of the emergence of COVID-19 is still a matter of research; however, one consistent theme is humanity's unsustainable behavior. By sustainably interacting with nature, humans may have avoided this pandemic. If unsustainable human practices are not controlled through education, awareness, behavioral change, as well as sustainable policy creation and enforcement, there could be several such pandemics in our future.
- COVID-19,
- coronavirus,
- pandemic,
- public health,
- nature,
- sustainability
Citation: Sushant K Singh. COVID-19: A master stroke of Nature[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2020, 7(2): 393-402. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2020033

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Abstract

This article presents the status of countries affected by COVID-19 (as of mid-May 2020) and their preparedness to combat the after-effects of the pandemic. The report also provides an analysis of how human behavior may have triggered such a global pandemic and why humans need to consider living sustainably to make our future world livable for all. COVID-19 originated in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019. As of mid-May, it has spread to 213 countries and territories worldwide. The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, with a death toll of over 300,000 to date. The U.S. is currently the most impacted country. Collaborative efforts of scientists and politicians across the world will be needed to better plan and utilize global health resources to combat this global pandemic. Machine learning-based prediction models could also help by identifying potential COVID-19-prone areas and individuals. The cause of the emergence of COVID-19 is still a matter of research; however, one consistent theme is humanity's unsustainable behavior. By sustainably interacting with nature, humans may have avoided this pandemic. If unsustainable human practices are not controlled through education, awareness, behavioral change, as well as sustainable policy creation and enforcement, there could be several such pandemics in our future.

Conflict of interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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