Going viral - Covid-19 impact assessment: A perspective beyond clinical practice

In the realm of infectious diseases, a global outbreak is a worst-case scenario. In the past, outbreaks such as plague, Spanish flu, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and H1N1 (swine flu) have caused great human suffering. The novel coronavirus, christened as Covid-19, is a zoonotic disease which originated from the Wuhan province in China and spread like wildfire killing people and devastating the global economy. Mammoth efforts are still on to control this viral strain from further spread. Cities have been blocked, air travel banned, ships have been quarantined, and panic-stricken people have been evacuated from China. As Covid-19 continues to ravage countries across the globe, this article is an effort to provide an overview of the impact of Covid-19 and tickle wits of intellectuals to think how easily a nanometer organism can virtually bring down superpowers of the world.