COVID-19, the pandemic that has shaken the world, will perhaps change our lives forever. Often, we now talk of a ‘pre-COVID’ world, where business was as usual, and a ‘post-COVID’ world which is the new normal. While the disease, caused by a tiny virus, has affected millions, it has also brought to fore some often-ignored challenges and opportunities to build a better tomorrow. Science has been in the forefront, driving these monumental changes across the world—from understanding the virus and designing a vaccine, to throwing insights on how we could prepare for and prevent the next pandemic.

What is the importance of Social Distancing in these times of global crisis?

Research Matters is happy to bring you this article as part of the series on Mathematical Modeling and Data Analysis by the Mathematical Modeling team of Indian Scientists' Response to Covid-19 (ISRC). The second part of this series is on SIR and SEIR Models of Infectious Diseases. 

In a recent effort, researchers at IIT - Kanpur have worked on answering about the approaches to flatten the epidemic curve.

 The novel coronavirus — termed SARS-CoV-2 — belongs to a family of viruses that target and infect the upper respiratory tract of mammals. At least six types of coronaviruses are known to infect humans that cause common cold. Scientists have reported the existence of coronaviruses in bats and birds dating back to millions of years ago. They believe that the cross-species transmission is more of a recent event.

A ventilator can be a life-saver for patients whose lungs are damaged by the COVID-19 infection. But India, like all countries grappling with this pandemic, is likely to face a large shortage of ventilators. Manufacturers are unable to source key components such as sensors and flow controllers from abroad due to the current disruptions in global supply chains.To address this shortage, a team of engineers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is currently building a prototype of an electro-mechanical ventilator from scratch, using only components found or made in India, based on guidelines issued by the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. It is expected to be ready within the next couple of weeks.