BIOLOGY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT.
TOPIC : COVID – 19.
CLASS : XII
ROLL NO. : 09
DONE UNDER : Sucharita Bhattacharya.
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CONTENTS.
1. Acknowledgement
2. Certificate
3. Introduction
4. Symptoms
5. Causes
6. Treatment and Prevention.
7. Home – Isolation
8. Consequences suffered by the world
9. Conclusion
10. Bibliography
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
I would like to express my special thanks to my biology
teacher Sucharita Bhattacharya Ma’am for her able guidance
and support in completing my project. I would also like to
extend my gratitude to our Principal Ma’am , “Sujata
Chatterjee” and vice principal sir , “Anirudhha Bhattacharya”
for providing me with all the facilities that were required.
Date : 9th June , 2024. Name : Arya Ghosh
Class : XII
Section : A
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Certificate.
This is to certify that Arya Ghosh , a student of Class : XII – A
has successfully completed this investigatory project report
titled “COVID – 19” under the guidance of Ms. Sucharita
Bhattacharya (biology teacher) in the academic year 2023-
2024.
This report is a bonafide work done by the student and has
been submitted to G.D. Goenka Public School ,
Dakshineshwar , in partial fulfilment of biology practical
examination conducted by CBSE , New Delhi for the award of
All India Senior Certificate Examination (AISSCE) in Science.
Signature of examiner.
__________________
Signature of biology teacher.
__________________
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INTRODUCTION.
Coronavirus is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses
like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Towards the end
of the year 2019, a new type of coronavirus called Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
was identified. It causes the disease we know as Coronavirus
Disease 2019 or COVID-19. By March 2020, the World Health
Organization (WHO) declared this COVID-19 outbreak as a
pandemic.
Despite the global outbreak news making headlines, and it
becoming a major cause of panic, this infection can be
prevented. This is because one can only get infected, by
coming in contact with someone who already has the
infection, through air droplets or contaminated surfaces. Thus,
healthcare organizations like WHO & others, have issued
guidelines, recommendations & home isolation advice to
prevent the spread of this disease.
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SYMPTOMS.
Symptoms of the Coronavirus disease are likely to
appear within 2-14 days after exposure. The time between
exposure and development of symptoms is called the
incubation period. Children show similar symptoms as
adults but usually have a mild illness
COVID-19 symptoms can include:
a high temperature or shivering (chills) – a high temperature
means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not
need to measure your temperature)
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more
than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
shortness of breath
feeling tired or exhausted
an aching body
a headache
a sore throat
a blocked or runny nose
loss of appetite
diarrhoea
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CAUSES:
COVID-19 is caused by infection with the severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, also called SARS-CoV-2.
The coronavirus spreads mainly from person to person, even
from someone who is infected but has no symptoms. When
people with COVID-19 cough, sneeze, breathe, sing or talk,
their breath may be infected with the COVID-19 virus.
The coronavirus carried by a person's breath can land directly
on the face of a nearby person, after a sneeze or cough, for
example. The droplets or particles the infected person
breathes out could possibly be breathed in by other people if
they are close together or in areas with low air flow. And a
person may touch a surface that has respiratory droplets and
then touch their face with hands that have the coronavirus on
them.
It's possible to get COVID-19 more than once.
Over time, the body's defense against the COVID-
19 virus can fade.
A person may be exposed to so much of the virus
that it breaks through their immune defense.
As a virus infects a group of people, the virus copies
itself. During this process, the genetic code can
randomly change in each copy. The changes are
called mutations. If the coronavirus that
causes COVID-19 changes in ways that make
previous infections or vaccination less effective at
preventing infection, people can get sick again.
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The virus that causes COVID-19 can infect some pets. Cats,
dogs, hamsters and ferrets have caught this coronavirus and
had symptoms. It's rare for a person to get COVID-19 from a
pet.
The main risk factors for COVID-19 are:
If someone you live with has COVID-19.
If you spend time in places with poor air flow and a
higher number of people when the virus is spreading.
If you spend more than 30 minutes in close contact
with someone who has COVID-19.
Many factors affect your risk of catching the virus that
causes COVID-19. How long you are in contact, if the space
has good air flow and your activities all affect the risk. Also, if
you or others wear masks, if someone has COVID-
19 symptoms and how close you are affects your risk. Close
contact includes sitting and talking next to one another, for
example, or sharing a car or bedroom.
It seems to be rare for people to catch the virus that
causes COVID-19 from an infected surface. While the
virus is shed in waste, called stool, COVID-19 infection
from places such as a public bathroom is not common.
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TREATMENT AND PREVENTION.
FDA has authorized or approved several antiviral medications
used to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in people who are
more likely to get very sick.
Antiviral treatments for COVID-19 target specific parts
of the virus to stop it from multiplying in the body once
someone is infected, helping to prevent severe illness
and death.
The Infectious Diseases Society of America
provides Guidelines on the Treatment and Management
of Patients with COVID-19 for healthcare providers to
help them work with their patients and determine the
best treatment options for them. Several treatment
options are available for treating COVID-19. They do not
treat other common respiratory viruses such as flu.
COVID-19 treatment options include:
Some treatments might have side effects or interact with
other medications you are taking. If you don’t have a
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healthcare provider, visit a Test to Treat location or contact
your local community health centre or health department.
If you are hospitalized, your healthcare provider might use
other types of treatments, depending on how sick you are.
These could include medications to better recognize and
respond to the virus, treat the infection, reduce an overactive
immune response, or treat COVID-19 complications.
If you have a weakened immune system, have received
antiviral treatment, and continue to experience COVID-19
symptoms, your healthcare provider may recommend
additional treatment, including convalescent plasma.
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HOME ISOLATION.
Detection of a travel related/unrelated suspect case of novel
Coronavirus Disease (COVID19) will be followed by rapid
isolation of such cases in designated health facilities and line
listing of all contacts of such cases. Home quarantine is
applicable to all such contacts of a suspect or confirmed case
of COVID-19. This intervention will be limited to the initial
phase of India reporting only (i) travel related cases and (ii)
focal clusters arising from a travel related/unrelated case
where cluster containment strategy is adopted (iii) Persons
coming from COVID-19 affected areas where local and
community transmission is evident.
Instructions for contacts being home quarantined The home
quarantined person should: Stay in a well-ventilated single-
room preferably with an attached/separate toilet. If another
family member needs to stay in the same room, it’s advisable
to maintain a distance of at least 1 meter between the two.
• Needs to stay away from elderly people, pregnant women,
children and persons with co-morbidities within the
household.
• Restrict his/her movement within the house.
• Under no circumstances attend any social/religious
gathering e.g. wedding, condolences, etc.
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He should also follow the under mentioned public health
measures at all times:
• Wash hand as often thoroughly with soap and water or with
alcohol-based hand sanitizer
• Avoid sharing household items e.g. dishes, drinking
glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, bedding, or other items
with other people at home.
• Wear a surgical mask at all the time. The mask should be
changed every 6-8 hours and [Link] masks
are never to be reused.
• Masks used by patients / care givers/ close contacts during
home care should be disinfected using ordinary bleach
solution (5%) or sodium hypochlorite solution (1%) and then
disposed of either by burning or deep burial.
• Used mask should be considered as potentially infected.
• If symptoms appear (cough/fever/difficulty in breathing),
he/she should immediately inform the nearest health centre or
call 011-23978046. Instructions for the family members of
persons being home quarantined.
Instructions for the family members of persons being home
quarantined.
• Only an assigned family member should be tasked with
taking care of the such person
• Avoid shaking the soiled linen or direct contact with skin
• Use disposable gloves when cleaning the surfaces or
handling soiled linen
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• Wash hands after removing gloves
• Visitors should not be allowed
• In case the person being quarantined becomes
symptomatic, all his close contacts will be home quarantined
(for 14 days) and followed up for an additional 14days or till
the report of such case turns out negative on lab testing.
Environmental sanitation :
a) Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces in the
quarantined person’s room (e.g bed frames, tables etc.) daily
with 1%Sodium Hypochlorite Solution.
b) Clean and disinfect toilet surfaces daily with regular
household bleach solution/phenolic disinfectants
c) Clean the clothes and other linen used by the person
separately using common household detergents and dry.
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CONSEQUENCES.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human
life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to
public health, food systems and the world of work. The
economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is
devastating: tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into
extreme poverty, while the number of undernourished people,
currently estimated at nearly 690 million, could increase by up
to 132 million by the end of the year.
Millions of enterprises face an existential threat. Nearly half of
the world’s 3.3 billion global workforce are at risk of losing
their livelihoods. Informal economy workers are particularly
vulnerable because the majority lack social protection and
access to quality health care and have lost access to
productive assets. Without the means to earn an income
during lockdowns, many are unable to feed themselves and
their families. For most, no income means no food, or, at
best, less food and less nutritious food.
The pandemic has been affecting the entire food system and
has laid bare its fragility. Border closures, trade restrictions
and confinement measures have been preventing farmers
from accessing markets, including for buying inputs and
selling their produce, and agricultural workers from harvesting
crops, thus disrupting domestic and international food supply
chains and reducing access to healthy, safe and diverse
diets. The pandemic has decimated jobs and placed millions
of livelihoods at risk. As breadwinners lose jobs, fall ill and
die, the food security and nutrition of millions of women and
men are under threat, with those in low-income countries,
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particularly the most marginalized populations, which include
small-scale farmers and indigenous peoples, being hardest
hit.
Millions of agricultural workers – waged and self-employed –
while feeding the world, regularly face high levels of working
poverty, malnutrition and poor health, and suffer from a lack
of safety and labour protection as well as other types of
abuse. With low and irregular incomes and a lack of social
support, many of them are spurred to continue working, often
in unsafe conditions, thus exposing themselves and their
families to additional risks. Further, when experiencing
income losses, they may resort to negative coping strategies,
such as distress sale of assets, predatory loans or child
labour. Migrant agricultural workers are particularly
vulnerable, because they face risks in their transport, working
and living conditions and struggle to access support
measures put in place by governments. Guaranteeing the
safety and health of all agri-food workers – from primary
producers to those involved in food processing, transport and
retail, including street food vendors – as well as better
incomes and protection, will be critical to saving lives and
protecting public health, people’s livelihoods and food
security.
In the COVID-19 crisis food security, public health, and
employment and labour issues, in particular workers’ health
and safety, converge. Adhering to workplace safety and
health practices and ensuring access to decent work and the
protection of labour rights in all industries will be crucial in
addressing the human dimension of the crisis. Immediate and
purposeful action to save lives and livelihoods should include
extending social protection towards universal health coverage
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and income support for those most affected. These include
workers in the informal economy and in poorly protected and
low-paid jobs, including youth, older workers, and migrants.
Particular attention must be paid to the situation of women,
who are over-represented in low-paid jobs and care roles.
Different forms of support are key, including cash transfers,
child allowances and healthy school meals, shelter and food
relief initiatives, support for employment retention and
recovery, and financial relief for businesses, including micro,
small and medium-sized enterprises. In designing and
implementing such measures it is essential that governments
work closely with employers and workers.
Countries dealing with existing humanitarian crises or
emergencies are particularly exposed to the effects of
COVID-19. Responding swiftly to the pandemic, while
ensuring that humanitarian and recovery assistance reaches
those most in need, is critical.
Now is the time for global solidarity and support, especially
with the most vulnerable in our societies, particularly in the
emerging and developing world. Only together can we
overcome the intertwined health and social and economic
impacts of the pandemic and prevent its escalation into a
protracted humanitarian and food security catastrophe, with
the potential loss of already achieved development gains.
We must recognize this opportunity to build back better, as
noted in the Policy Brief issued by the United Nations
Secretary-General. We are committed to pooling our
expertise and experience to support countries in their crisis
response measures and efforts to achieve the Sustainable
Development Goals. We need to develop long-term
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sustainable strategies to address the challenges facing the
health and agri-food sectors. Priority should be given to
addressing underlying food security and malnutrition
challenges, tackling rural poverty, in particular through more
and better jobs in the rural economy, extending social
protection to all, facilitating safe migration pathways and
promoting the formalization of the informal economy.
We must rethink the future of our environment and tackle
climate change and environmental degradation with ambition
and urgency. Only then can we protect the health, livelihoods,
food security and nutrition of all people, and ensure that our
‘new normal’ is a better one.
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CONCLUSION.
COVID-19 was not a black swan event. It may also
constitute a dress rehearsal for a far worse pandemic, which
could come at any time.
We must prepare for a world where pandemics are more
frequent and increasingly dangerous. Preventing them, and
never again allowing the human costs and economic damage
that we have seen in the current crisis, must be a central
obligation of national and global governance.
We must prepare for a world where pandemics are more
frequent and increasingly dangerous. Preventing them, and
never again allowing the human costs and economic damage
that we have seen in the current crisis, must be a central
obligation of national and global governance.
We must prepare for a world where pandemics are more
frequent and increasingly dangerous. Preventing them, and
never again allowing the human costs and economic damage
that we have seen in the current crisis, must be a central
obligation of national and global governance.
We must prepare for a world where pandemics are more
frequent and increasingly dangerous. Preventing them, and
never again allowing the human costs and economic damage
that we have seen in the current crisis, must be a central
obligation of national and global governance.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY.
1. [Link]
coronavirus/in-depth/treating-covid-19-at-home/art-
20483273
2. [Link]
health/[Link]
3. [Link]
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