By COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic by WHO on 11th March 2020. As of 27 April 2020, more than 3.06 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in 185 countries and territories, resulting in more than 212,000 deaths, it has become a threat to human existence. The whole world is focused to mitigate this problematic situation. Nearly, all the country around the globe has imposed lockdown to restrict the mobility of their situation to reduce the transmission of the virus. Public Health practitioners are working as in-charge in community, national, sub-continental, and global health to minimize the health impact of COVID-19. In this article, we will present you with ten innovative ideas that you can do during the lockdown.
- Support Lockdown and Stay at Home
As a public health student, you sure have the idea of the virus epidemiology and modes of transmission. You would already have discovered that “Lockdown” is the only alternative to fight against COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries as we lack enough medicinal technology and equipment to provide curative for the infected ones. Similarly, it is responsible for Public Health Students to obey this lockdown religiously and also advocate at community-level maintaining social distance or digitally.
- Bust myths and circulate facts
Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, we have encountered various myths heavily circulated across social media and the internet. We should be responsible and aware enough to distinguish as myth or facts. It is our duty to bust all the myths circulated across social media and create awareness among friends and family circles providing them the logical and factual interpretation. Also, only messages and news from verified sources such as MOHP, WHO CDC, etc, should be shared.
- Stay up-to-date about COVID-19 news.
Public Health is a dynamic phenomenon; hence it is expected that public health should be up-to-date about COVID cases and news of their nation and worldwide. Rather than only knowing the case number, you must be able to explain trends and patterns rationally. You are also expected to know about the various strategies that countries are adopting to tackle this pandemic.
- Attend/Organize Awareness Competition
We all are aware that education spreads through interaction. If you are part of some organization and clubs you can organize various art/poster/quiz/painting/song/poem competition targeting different audiences spreading positive vibes in this lockdown. For instance, Climate Action, TB Free World, Digital Studios have organized various competitions for the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the competition award certificates, prizes while some offer E-certificates. Also, as a Public Health it is an opportunity to showcase your knowledge and skill in these competitions and improve and learn something new during this period.
- Learn new software
With this growing age of technology, tools, and techniques for Public health has also been digitalized. Various extensions, modules, programs, software are available both free and paid available on the internet. In this era, the most popular software includes Epidata, Epi info, ODK collect, Kobo Collect, etc. Similarly, data processing software includes SPSS, Epi-info, R, ODK Aggregate, Epidata Analysis, etc. In this pandemic, WHO has introduced GO-DATA with GOHRAN as the best epidemiological tool to collect data during an outbreak. It contains a wide range of graphs to visualize epidemiological details. GO-Data is a must-learn app for you.
- Enroll Yourself
The concept of an open university has been already popular in western countries. Without the restriction of the geographical boundaries, you can enroll yourself in various courses offered by the top universities and organizations around the globe. Open WHO, Havard Online Courses, Coursera, etc are offering various online courses where you can enroll for free and gain top-class education from top lecturers and get new insights over public health.
- Critical Review of COVID-19 guidelines
Various health organizations and governments along are releasing new guidelines to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the guidelines include Updated Testing Guidelines for COVID-19, Instant Hand Sanitizer Standard 2076, COVID-19 Resources(Guidelines, SOPs, Recording, Reporting formats, Interim Guideline for the establishment and Operationalization of molecular Laboratory for COVID-19 testing in Nepal, etc. As a public health student, you are expected to be aware of these national policies and critically review these guidelines and interpret them rationally.
- Study your course material
COVID-19 pandemic has postponed our exam schedule. As a student, you are expected to invest at least one-quarter of a day in learning. Studying should be continuous but not limited to course material. Along with the course, you could educate yourself about various health phenomena and features. The continuous habit of studying will surely aid in your exam preparation.
- Write Instant Articles
You could utilize your lockdown period by writing various articles based on your interest in sharing your opinions and knowledge. Similarly, you can freelance as a content writer or blog writer to gain extra income. Most of the websites offer as low of $3 per article but vary according to quality and issue of articles. Along with income, article writing also makes you professionally proficient in the proposal and report writing.
- Develop Proposal and EOI
Various donor agencies and NGOs want to observe various health phenomena and health determinants after lockdown. Hence, various research opportunities will rise up after lockdown. So it will be better to be prepared for grabbing such opportunities.
- [Bonus] Burn extra calories
A lot of us will surely curl up to the bed and stay lazy. It will be productive if you plan to do a ruthless workout at least 30 min/day breaking your comfort zone and setting new boundaries. A wide range of workout schedules could be found on the internet as per your body type. Similarly, the workout will sustain your body appearance and make you healthy both physically and mentally.
Correspondence:
Nirdesh Baral | 7th Sem BPH Student, School of Health and Allied Sciences, Pokhara University
Email: nirdesh8@gmail.com, Cell No. +977-9816138346
Sandip Pahari |Assistant Professor, School of Health and Allied Sciences, Pokhara University
Email: sp.mph15@gmail.com, Cell No. +977-9846261237
