__NOTITLE__

==Coronavirus updates in New York City==
By Nadia Farooqi on March 21, 2020

On February 26, 2020, COVID-19 cases had been identified in 36 other countries and territories, including the United States. Person-to-person transmission has been widely documented ((Burke, 2020). On January 20, state and local health departments in the United States, in collaboration with teams deployed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), began identifying and monitoring all persons having close contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients (Patel and Jernigan, 2020). The aims of these efforts were to ensure rapid evaluation and care of patients, limit further transmission, and understand the risk factors for transmission.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, an American politician announced Thursday night (Mar-19), there are now 3954 confirmed cases of corona virus and 26 deaths in New York City with some fluctuation in the numbers:

Brooklyn: 1,195 cases, Queens: 1,042, Manhattan: 1,038, Bronx: 496, Staten Island: 179

The city in the afternoon said the number of people hospitalized was 554, with 169 of those patients in the ICU. The total confirmed case in New York City has about doubled in each of the past two days. It was 1,871 on Wednesday evening and 923 on Tuesday night. The numbers of cases are expected to increase exponentially. Mayor Bill de Blasio predicted the city would reach 10,000 cases soon over the coming weeks and months as more tests are conducted. The mayor said Friday evening the city has 5,151 coronavirus cases and 29 deaths associated with the virus.

@NYCMayor says the city is in dire need of:

3 million N95 masks, 50 million surgical masks, 15,000 ventilators, 25 million protective gowns.

There are now more than 250,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html).

==Strategic objectives of WHO for this response==
# Limit human-to-human transmission; reducing secondary infections among close contacts and health care workers, preventing transmission amplification events.
# Identify, isolate and care for patients early and providing optimized care for infected patients.
# Identify and reduce transmission from the animal source.
# Address crucial unknowns regarding clinical severity, extent of transmission and infection, treatment options, and accelerate the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.
# Communicate critical risk and event information to all communities and counter misinformation.

This can be achieved through a combination of public health measures, such as rapid identification, diagnosis and management of the cases, identification and follow up of the contacts, infection prevention and control in health care settings, implementation of health measures for travelers, awareness-raising in the population and risk communication (Organization, 2020).

==Recommendations and Advice for the Public==
If you are in an area where there are cases of COVID-19 you need to take the risk of infection seriously. It is understandable that you may feel anxious about the outbreak. Get the facts from reliable sources to help you accurately determine your risks so that you can take reasonable precautions. Seek guidance from WHO, your healthcare provider, your national public health authority or your employer for accurate information on COVID-19 and whether COVID-19 is circulating where you live. It is important to be informed of the situation and take appropriate measures to protect yourself and your family. Follow the advice of WHO and guidance issued by national and local health authorities. For most people, COVID-19 infection will cause mild illness however, it can make some people very ill and, in some people, it can be fatal (Organization, 2020).

2020-02-22T07:49:19Z

Nnf2108:

Visiting PhD Student

=Nadia Farooqi=
==Education==
BS (Hons), Health Biotechnology, University of Malakand, Pakistan, 2008-2012

Mphil, Health Biotechnology, University of Malakand, Pakistan, 2013-2015

PhD, Health Biotechnology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Pakistan, 2016-Present

HEC Fellowship under International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP), Pakistan

==Research Interests==
Human heart (cardiomyocytes and proteins)

Identification and characterization of gene variants involved in Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) using Whole Exome Sequencing technique

Environmental Factors involved in Dilated Cardiomyopathy (Metabolic disorders and DCM)

Diagnosis and management of DCM (cardiac bio-markers, medical and device treatment)

Exclusion Studies of ''GJB2'' gene in patients with Hearing Impairment using Sequencing Technique

In-silico and Phylogenetic Analysis using various bioinformatics tools (including various Protein Modelling techniques)

TORCH screen and TORCH Agents; (Toxoplasma gondii, rubella virus, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus), role in abortion

Zoonotic Diseases; Epidemiology of Brucellosis in cattle and in-contact individuals in District Malakand, Pakistan

==Publications==
Aftab Ali Shah, Nadia Farooqi, Hazir Muhammad and Murad Khan (2014) ''In silico'' MicroRNAs target identification within the ''GJB2'' ''Gene''. ''International Journal of Biosciences ''''(IJB)'' 4 (7): 38-49.

Hazir Muhammad, Nadia Farooqi, Aftab Ali Shah and Ghulam Nabi (2015) An Overview of Brucellosis. ''American Research Thoughts'' 1 (8).

Aftab Ali Shah, Hazir Muhammad, Nadia Farooqi, Nigar Gul, Ayaz Ali Khan, Ghulam Nabi and Shah Nawaz Khan (2015) Association of TORCH Agents with Spontaneous Abortion in Patients with Bad Obstetric History. ''World Journal of Zoology'' 10 (4): 291-294.

Hazir Muhammad, Aftab Ali Shah, Ghulam Nabi and Nadia Farooqi (2015) Male infertility: Etiological Factors [A Review]. ''American-Eurasian Journal of Toxicological Sciences'' 7 (2): 95-103.

Nadia Farooqi*, Qayum Khan and Syed Fazal Jalil (2017) Review Studies of GJB2 gene in Patients with Hearing Loss in Pakistan. ''Journal of Molecular and Genetic ''''Medicine'' 11:4.