There are at least 22 dedicated humanitarian organisations, including NGOs and UN agencies, providing at least 778 Covid-19 response programs in 35 countries in Asia. Elements of WHO's Covid-19 Strategic Response and Preparedness Plan have been updated including elements in consultation with WHO's Asia and Pacific Regional Office.
36 countries with Covid-19 humanitarian response programs[/caption]
The risk of Covid-19 in Asia is significant and the cases per day continues to rise.
Afghanistan with nearly 12,000 confirmed cases, and Bangladesh with over 36,000 cases, and Philippines with nearly 15,000 confirmed cases remain high risk. The amount of available testing kits remains a big concern in many countries, and the actual amount of Covid-19 cases is suspected to be much higher.
Humanitarian actors and governments continue to collaborate to improve response and preparedness activities.
Tobacco and Covid-19
There are currently no peer-reviewed studies that have evaluated the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection associated with smoking. However, tobacco smokers (cigarettes, waterpipes, bidis, cigars, heated tobacco products) may be more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, as the act of smoking involves contact of fingers (and possibly contaminated cigarettes) with the lips, which increases the possibility of transmission of viruses from hand to mouth. Smoking waterpipes, also known as shisha or hookah, often involves the sharing of mouth pieces and hoses, which could facilitate the transmission of the COVID-19 virus in communal and social settings.
Smoking any kind of tobacco reduces lung capacity and increases the risk of many respiratory infections and can increase the severity of respiratory diseases. COVID-19 is an infectious disease that primarily attacks the lungs. Smoking impairs lung function making it harder for the body to fight off coronaviruses and other respiratory diseases. Available research suggests that smokers are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 outcomes and death.
We know that the spread of Covid-19 is accompanied by uncertainty concerning its key epidemiological, clinical and virological characteristics, particularly its ability to spread in the human population and
its virulence. Understanding SARS-CoV-2 infection among health workers and identifying the risk factors for adverse outcomes are important not only for characterizing virus transmission patterns
and risk factors for infection, but also for preventing the future infection of health workers and patients
Using smokeless tobacco often involves some hand to mouth contact. Another risk associated with using smokeless tobacco products, like chewing tobacco, is that the virus can be spread when the user spits out the excess saliva produced during the chewing process.
With over 5.5 million recorded cases of Covid-19 globally, and 350,000 deaths, these risks cannot be ignored.