Nurses at the forefront of COVID-19 pandemic

A new coronavirus referred to as COVID-19 was first detected in human in Wuhan, China in December 2019, affected many countries and became a pandemic across the world on March 11, 2020 (Salzberger et al., 2020). COVID-19 infection ranges from uncomplicated upper respiratory tract infection to severe viral pneumonia with multiorgan failure and death endangering public life and socioeconomic development in many countries (Munster et al., 2020). The World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) declared this situation as a public health emergency of international concern and implemented varied levels of containment in order to reduce disease transmission. Chaudhry et al (2020) reported that some evidence suggested strict social distancing may limit spread of this novel pathogen. Screening and isolation of infected individuals, travel restrictions, contact tracing, quarantine measures and closure of non-essential businesses as well as schools and universities were implemented to reduce the spread of infection (Hartley & Perencevich, 2020).