Combating the Spread of COVID-19, the Challenges Faced and Way forward for the International Community: A Review

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by SARS-COV2 has been a great disaster globally; affecting human lives, world economy, social activities, and above all lack of trust among countries of the world. The dreaded disease has about more than 3,713,796 confirmed cases, 263,288 deaths, and 1,341,059 recovered persons in May 2020. The main purpose of this article is to review measures put in place to combat COVID-19, challenges faced, and way forward for the international community. The study reviewed relevant articles on COVID-19 and measures put in place for combating the spread of COVID-19. The inconsistency in the prevention and control of COVID-19 and unwillingness by the people especially, in developing countries such as Africa has hampered the effective implementation of universal control measures to combat the disease. Also, the lack of a universal approved treatment and lack of trust amongst regions of the world to combat the disease have left many countries to struggle for themselves. The earlier report that the COVID-19 is not airborne and the recent report that is airborne has done more harm than good in terms of preventive measures. Another challenge observed is the lack of a complete understanding of the coronavirus by the scientific community. The association of the COVID-19 with 5G network was another distraction and confusion to the international community in combating the disease as people who were supposed to observe control and preventive measures, found themselves protesting and vandalizing the 5G tower thereby exposing themselves at risk of been infected with coronavirus. There is a need for a consensus on preventive measures and treatment through evidence-based research that will be effective in combating COVID-19 globally. During this global crisis with COVID-19, the international community must decentralize the testing centers to reach out to the rural areas instead of waiting for case reports from such areas. Social network owners should find a way of filtering and controlling information shared during outbreaks and Pandemics in the future.