Introduction to COVID-19: methods for detection, prevention, response and control
OpenWHO

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are known to cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

A novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China. This is a new coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans.

This course provides a general introduction to COVID-19 and emerging respiratory viruses and is intended for public health professionals, incident managers and personnel working for the United Nations, international organizations and NGOs.

As the official disease name was established after material creation, any mention of nCoV refers to COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus.

Please note that the content of this course is currently being revised to reflect the most recent guidance. You can find updated information on certain COVID-19-related topics in the following courses:

Vaccination: COVID-19 vaccines channel

IPC measures: IPC for COVID-19

Antigen rapid diagnostic testing: 1) SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid diagnostic testing; 2) Key considerations for SARS-CoV-2 antigen RDT implementation

Please note: These materials were last updated on 16/12/2020.

Self-paced
Language: English
COVID-19
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Course information

This course is also available in the following languages:

français - Español - 中文 - Português - العربية - русский - Türkçe - српски језик - فارسی - हिन्दी, हिंदी - македонски јазик - Tiếng Việt - Indian sign language - magyar - Bahasa Indonesia - বাংলা - اردو - Kiswahili - አማርኛ - ଓଡିଆ - Hausa - Tetun - Deutsch - Èdè Yorùbá - Asụsụ Igbo - ਪੰਜਾਬੀ - isiZulu - Soomaaliga- Afaan Oromoo - دری - Kurdî - پښتو - मराठी - Fulfulde- සිංහල - Latviešu valoda - తెలుగు - Esperanto -ภาษาไทย - chiShona - Kreyòl ayisyen -Казақ тілі - தமிழ் - Ελληνικά

Overview: This course provides a general introduction to emerging respiratory viruses, including novel coronaviruses. By the end of this course, you should be able to describe:

  • The nature of emerging respiratory viruses, how to detect and assess an outbreak, strategies for preventing and controlling outbreaks due to novel respiratory viruses;
  • What strategies should be used to communicate risk and engage communities to detect, prevent and respond to the emergence of a novel respiratory virus.

There are resources attached to each module to help you dive further into this topic.

Learning objective: Describe the fundamental principles of emerging respiratory viruses and how to effectively respond to an outbreak.

Course duration: Approximately 3 hours.

Certificates: A Record of Achievement certificate will be available to participants who score at least 80% of the total points available across all of the quizzes. Participants who receive a Record of Achievement can also download an Open Badge for this course. Click here to learn how.

As the official disease name was established after material creation, any mention of nCoV refers to COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus.

Course contents

  • Emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19: Introduction:

    This brief introduction provides an overview of emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.

  • Module 1: Introduction to Emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19:

    By the end of this module, you should be able to: explain how respiratory viruses emerge and why they are a global threat to human health.

  • Module 2: Detecting Emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19: Surveillance:

    By the end of this module, you should be able to: describe how to detect and assess an emerging respiratory virus outbreak.

  • Module 3: Detecting Emerging respiratory viruses, including COVID-19: Laboratory Investigations:

    By the end of this module, you should be able to: describe different types of sampling needed and the type of laboratory investigations used to confirm cases of COVID-19.

  • Module 4: Risk Communication :

    By the end of this module, you should be able to: describe key risk communication concerns for emerging respiratory viruses; to list at least three barriers for effective uptake of health advise; and identify some key interventions for operationalizing risk communication during an outbreak or an event.

  • Module 5 : Community Engagement:

    By the end of this module, you should be able to: describe at least three reasons why responders need to engage communities during an outbreak; list challenges faced in community engagement; and describe approaches for effective community engagement in detecting, preventing and responding to an outbreak.

  • Module 6: Preventing and Responding to an emerging respiratory virus, including COVID-19:

    By the end of this module, you should be able to: describe the principles of preventing infection in the community and in health care settings.

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Certificate Requirements

  • Gain a Record of Achievement by earning at least 80% of the maximum number of points from all graded assignments.