Chapter 6 Prevention and disease control of COVID-19

Qu, Jie-Ming; Cao, Bin; Chen, Rong-Chang

The control of infectious disease is more dependent on prevention than on treatment. The first task is to isolate the source of infection. Suspected patients, mildly affected patients, and close contacts of confirmed cases should be placed under medical observation. No matter whether there is an etiological diagnosis or not, suspected patients should be kept in strict isolation. It is difficult to identify the source of infection completely unless compulsory measures are taken, such as door-to-door screening. Therefore, the focus of prevention is how to cut off the transmission routes. Given that droplet transmission and contact transmission appear to be the main routes of transmission of COVID-19, the general public need to refrain from going outdoors as much as possible, wear masks in public, and keep good hygiene including frequent handwashing, and wiping and disinfecting door handles and elevator buttons. It is recommended to stop using central air-conditioning because COVID-19 may also spread through aerosol transmission.