Editorial

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To review this article online, scan this World War III QR code with your Smartphone Farrokh Habibzadeh1

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” Bertrand Russell

or the third time in the written by the pandemic. In fact, OXFAM, a con- 1The IJOEM history of humankind, a war has federation of 20 independent charitable Finvolved most countries of the globe: organizations focusing on alleviating glob- The world is at war with the coronavirus.1 al poverty, recently projected that, by the In this war, the soldiers are dedicated end of this year, 12 000 people could die health care workers fighting tirelessly in each day from hunger linked to the eco- the frontlines of the battle. “Science” is nomic crisis caused by COVID-19, poten- their only weapon. The generals writing tially more than the number killed by the the battle plans for this war must be sci- disease.4 If this projection is accurate, entists because every strategy for winning Venezuela, South Sudan, Yemen, Brazil, this war must be based on sound scientific and India will be among the counties most evidence. Most world leaders are not sci- affected by such widespread starvation. entists but they must listen to scientists. To avoid recession, some countries have As in every war, a key factor in winning prematurely reopened their economies. As To read a Review on COVID-19 see is following a coherent strategy, and sev- a result, many people mistakenly believe https://www.theijoem. eral simple but effective tactics have been that the epidemic is passing, leading to com/ijoem/index.php/ ijoem/article/view/1921 implemented to one degree or another in reductions in the use of personal protective this war. The most important ones include equipment, social distancing, and hand limiting public gatherings in general and washing. People who have lived in isola- attendance at crowded events (such as tion for several weeks, without contacts wedding and funeral ceremonies), particu- with friends and family, seem to have lost larly by those who feel ill or who carry a their sensitivity (la belle indifférence) to higher risk of contracting the infection (eg, the danger and have overlooked the grav- older people or those with comorbid con- ity of the situation in their rush to return ditions); wearing appropriate face masks; to the normal life they had had before the frequent hand washing; and social distanc- pandemic. ing to break the chain of transmission.2 As expected, however, the number of Launching social distancing require- new COVID-19 cases sharply increased ments means closing most governmen- soon after businesses reopened. This sharp tal and non-governmental workplaces, increase has already occurred in some Ira- despite knowing that closure will lead to nian cities. According to the Institute for an economic recession sooner or later.3 Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an Therefore, the government should at least independent global health research center partially compensate people who have lost at the University of Washington, if Irani- Correspondence to their jobs and incomes. Otherwise, deaths ans continue with careless behaviors, the F. Habibzadeh, MD, The caused by the recession and broken supply number of COVID-19 cases will begin to IJOEM Tel: +98-71-3225-2258 5 chains could easily exceed those caused increase exponentially. We were supposed E-mail: Farrokh. Habibzadeh@theijoem. Cite this article as: Habibzadeh H. World War III. Int J Occup Environ Med 2020;11:117-118. doi: 10.34172/ com ijoem.2020.2139 Received: Jul 10, 2020 Accepted: Jul 10, 2020 www.theijoem.com Vol 11, Num 3; July, 2020 117 editorial

World War III

to defeat the virus. Instead, we may defeat heroes and deserve so much better than we our own soldiers—the health care workers. have given them so far. A recent report shows that the virus, which was thought to be transmitted sole- Conflicts of Interest: None declared. ly through droplets, might also have the potential for air-borne spread.6 If so, con- ventional face masks, which only slow the References spread of the virus by stopping droplets, will provide far less protection. 1. Habibzadeh P, Stoneman EK. The Novel To win this war, we must strictly follow Coronavirus: A Bird's Eye View. Int J Occup Environ Med 2020;11:65-71. the simple rules that we know are effec- tive; otherwise, health care facilities will 2. Barnes M, Sax PE. Challenges of "Return to Work" be stressed beyond capacity, the number in an Ongoing Pandemic. N Engl J Med 2020. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsr2019953 of health care workers will be inadequate, most of these workers will be exhausted 3. Habibzadeh F, Lang T. The Coronavirus Pandemic: "The Show Must NOT Go On". Int J Occup Environ and some will be infected, and the health Med 2020;11:63-4. care system could collapse. Although health care facilities can be expanded rela- 4. OXFAM International. 12,000 people per day could die from Covid-19 linked hunger by end of tively quickly, the number and effective- year, potentially more than the disease, warns ness of health care providers can decline Oxfam. Available from www.oxfam.org/en/ faster than they can be improved. Thus, we press-releases/12000-people-day-could-die-covid- must greatly increase our “force protec- 19-linked-hunger-end-year-potentially-more-dis- tion” abilities by securing the logistical and ease (Accessed July 10, 2020). social support they need to win the war. 5. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation The world is now infected with this (IHME). COVID-19 Projections: Iran (Islamic Repub- lic of). Available from http://covid19.healthdata. new virus. The enemy is at the gates. Face org/iran-(islamic-republic-of) (Accessed July 10, masks substantially reduce the risk of viral 2020). transmission, but only if they are worn. 6. Morawska L, Milton DK. It is time to address Reducing transmission will protect our airborne transmission of COVID-19. Clin Infect Dis soldiers, the health care workers who are 2020;ciaa939. doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa939 fighting the virus so ardently. They are real

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