By Fayaz Ahmad Paul
The Covid-19 continues to spread throughout the world and the number of confirmed cases globally has proliferated. According to confirmed cases, since the outbreak in December 2019, the rate of male infections has always been higher than that of women. On 12 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus to be a global pandemic. The biggest challenge for most countries is how to confront the immediate threat of the virus. For prevention and treatment in women, it is helpful to understand whether women belong to a high-risk group or a group with weak resistance. For women around the world, pandemics have impacted not only their physical health but also their family, work, and everyday life.
The pandemic caused most schools to suspend classes, forcing many working women to take time off to care for their children, which greatly affected their work. In addition pandemic has impacted industries such as catering and tourism, and many factories have been forced to shut down. Many low-income women financially depend on these jobs and are now facing unemployment. A woman’s who work in low-wage work, female bosses of small businesses, and women working in the informal sector will be hit the hardest. As the pandemic continues to grow, elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools around the world have announced the suspension of classes. Many schools have postponed the start of the academic year, which has forced many women to take leave to stay at home with their children, affecting their right to work.
Married women in India traditionally bear excessive family responsibilities, and the Covid crisis has made women feel depressed. In most families, men are the mainstay of the family’s economy, so they cannot take leave. Therefore, women are obligated to take leave to care for their children at home. The spread of the new coronavirus pneumonia pandemic has caused Crores of people to be quarantined at home, which has also led to a continuous increase in domestic violence and divorce cases. Reports of domestic violence related to the outbreak of the new coronavirus have also been followed and discussed by social media in various countries as well as in India.
Female medical staffs are more likely to be exposed to the risk of the spread of pandemics. During the fight against the Covid pandemic female medical staff had to be at the forefront of the crisis to assist in patient care. In addition, if a female nurse is pregnant, both the nurse and her fetus are at risk of infection, which causes psychological stress to the mother. Wearing protective clothing can restrict the movement of medical personnel, such as going to the toilet or eating. Female providers may also be uncomfortable during menstruation and unable to regularly change their menstrual supplies, which highlight the additional difficulties faced by female medical staff during the pandemic.
Since the outbreak of the global pandemic, the elderly, children, women, people with physical and mental disabilities, and chronically ill people who are socioeconomically vulnerable have faced relatively serious risks. Elderly women suffer greater psychological and emotional health effects than elderly men. It is worth noting that gender can also provide different perspectives to examine the development of the pandemic and health inequalities. In fact, women may endure a greater physiological and psychological impact because of the pandemic. Women have demonstrated better resistance to and a higher survival rate against coronavirus during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreaks.
Covid-19 can be transmitted by droplets or by indirect or direct contact with an infected person’s mouth, mucus secretions, or bodily fluids. To effectively reduce human-to-human contact, the most effective prevention methods for people at present include frequently washing their hands, rinsing their mouth, wearing masks, and maintaining social distance. It is also reinforced the behavior important of avoiding contact with the eyes, nose, and mouth to block the virus from entering the body. It is always recommended to maintain the body’s health by working normal hours and getting enough rest. These practices will reduce the likelihood of infection. It may also be beneficial to regularly measure body temperature. While this measure is unable to prevent infection, it can remind people to be aware of any discomfort and promote the early identification of symptoms.
It is important to note that women’s body temperatures can increase during ovulation, so a higher temperature in women may not always be indicative of a fever. Women in proximity to their children may find it difficult to maintain social distance and should be aware of any emerging symptoms to avoid cross-contamination. Women have been significantly impacted by the pandemics-19 and face difficulties related to society, the economy, employment, and their health, which has caused considerable harm. While the incidence of Covid-19 in women and the mortality rate among women are much lower than those of men, the relatively weak social and economic situation still requires government attention.
In this pandemic, the government needs to plan for women as follows: In the work aspect, to regulate the working conditions of women reasonably, to extend the working hours by medical staff properly compensated, and to provide the quality of work conditions. In the family aspect, to provide manpower to help women raise children and take care of their families, and to protect women from domestic violence or marital problems. In the social aspect, to take care of women who have been quarantined or infected. In the education aspect, to strengthen school epidemic prevention measures and to adopt distance teaching methods away from cross infection among students. In the economic aspect, to provide women with unemployment benefits and to increase their job opportunities. It is essential to effectively protect women from coronavirus and improve their resistance to infection to ultimately reduce their chance of infection and mortality.
Fayaz Ahmad Paul,Research scholar in the Department of Psychiatry , can be reached at paulfayazpaul@gmail.com