Mental Health Strategies to Combat the Psychological Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Beyond Paranoia and Panic
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) an international public health emergency after the number of cases soared across 34 regions in Mainland China and surpassed that of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003.The virus was believed to have originated from a wholesale seafood market in the city of Wuhan in the province of Hubei towards the end of December 2019.Shortly after, the number of cases increased exponentially in Wuhan and nearby cities and provinces before spreading throughout the world.Located approximately 3432 km from the epicentre of Wuhan, Singapore is a densely populated city-state of 5.7 million who saw 1,592,612 international visitors in 2019; of these, 380,933 were visitors from Mainland China. 1 After a tourist from Wuhan was identified as the first case of COVID-19 infection on 23 January 2020 in Singapore, the country responded decisively by initiating a series of public health measures to contain the outbreak that included travel advisories, restriction of entry into the country by individuals who had travelled to Mainland China in the preceding 2 weeks, mandatory quarantine for contact cases and rigorous contact tracing of individuals linked to confirmed COVID-19 cases.On 7 February 2020, Singapore raised the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) -a colour-coded framework that maps the current disease situation in the country-from Yellow to Orange after there was confirmatory evidence of community transmission of the virus involving several confirmed COVID-19 patients who were not linked to any existing cases and had no travel history to China.At the Orange level, the outbreak is deemed to have moderate to high impact on the health of the public.The last time it was raised to Orange was during the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009, and would also have been the case during the SARS outbreak in 2003 had it been in place.
Authors: Cyrus SH Ho, Cornelia YI Chee, Roger CM Ho
Language: English
Topic: COVID-19 and Mental Health
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3178245182