An awareness talk on “Corona virus preparedness in the workplace”, was held at COMSATS Secretariat for the employees, on 9th March 2020. The talk delivered by Dr. Zawar Ali, Vaccinologist and Travel Health Physician at Excel Labs, Pakistan, covered various aspects of the epidemic including disease prevention and control.

During the talk, Dr. Ali shared some key statistics of disease spread in China and elsewhere in the world and touched upon aspects related to epidemiology, etiology and pathogenesis, especially in the context of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Precautionary measures recommended included: thorough hand-washing; disinfection of surfaces; proper ventilation of workspace settings; maintaining good respiratory hygiene; and avoiding close contact with persons with flu like symptoms. The audience was also given information with regard to travelling precautions, work contingency plan and steps for quarantine of suspected cases.

The talk was followed by Q&A session wherein Dr. Ali answered various queries related to diagnosis, routes of transmission as well as public health response to COVID-19.