Everyone Has an Important Role to Play in the Coronavirus Outbreak

The entire world is fighting the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Beyond the fight against the disease, its treatment and breaking the chain of transmission are of great importance. The Turkish Respiratory Research Association (TÜSAD), which reiterated the #StayHome call, continues its efforts to inform the public on this matter. TÜSAD Chair Prof. Dr. Ülkü Yılmaz reminded everyone once again that of those infected with this virus that we face globally, as much as 81 percent experience mild symptoms, sore throat and fatigue, while 18 percent develop lung infection and 5 percent face respiratory problems requiring intensive care. Yılmaz made the following statement: "It has also been shown that smokers face a much higher disease risk. If necessary precautions are taken very strictly and applied, and if extensive testing is conducted and strict isolation is ensured as recommended by the World Health Organization, the course of the disease in our country can be more easily controlled. At this stage, those who test positive must be identified quickly, and contacts must be rapidly separated from healthy individuals. People must be kept at home for isolation, and necessary social conditions must be provided for those staying at home. In situations where isolation at home is not possible, dormitories and hotels should be activated. At this stage, all of us have duties; all healthcare workers are at their posts with full commitment, and it falls to all individuals to stay at home," he said. During this period, Yılmaz listed 3 important concepts that must be observed:

• Quarantine; is the restriction of movement for individuals who have been exposed to a contagious disease. People under quarantine are those thought to have been exposed to the disease agent, whose health status is unknown, and who are probable carriers but are not currently showing disease symptoms. The purpose of quarantine is to reduce the likelihood of disease transmission to the rest of the community by cutting off contact between the probable carrier and others.

• Isolation; is the separation of sick individuals from healthy ones and the restriction of movement for sick individuals to prevent disease spread.
• What we mean by social distancing is the following: strict isolation is not mandatory; contact and exposure to the agent are reduced and maintained at the lowest possible level. Measures are being taken to maintain social distancing, one of the most important precautions in protecting against this disease, and information and awareness campaigns continue. On an individual basis, it is the most important measure we can take to protect ourselves and our community.

Yılmaz concluded his remarks as follows: "The answer to this problem is complete isolation. If sick individuals are identified and complete isolation is provided, experts have indicated that the epidemic could be brought under control within two months. As we have seen in the examples of South Korea before and Germany now. In this regard, the World Health Organization Director General has called on us to 'Test, test, test—if you do not know who is infected, you cannot stop the epidemic.' In our country, efforts continue to expand testing in line with the recommendations of the Scientific Board. For isolation to be successful, every segment of society, regardless of age, must comply with the precautions taken, and meeting the requirements of being a social state is of great importance in increasing this compliance," he said.