In early 2020 a coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) affected almost every country in the world posing the biggest global threat to public health. Prior to the outbreak of this pandemic, the world experienced a similar epidemic outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in late 2002, which caused an epidemic in several countries. For many people their first contact with health services when showing signs of any illness is with their doctor (GP) this suggests that primary care should be at the forefront of any pandemic planning. Primary care physicians' response to the pandemic in different countries reports the potential for improving crisis preparedness along with the lessons and strategies learned from previous related epidemics. From looking at previous responses to viral outbreaks (SARS) we can learn what impact the current COVID-19 outbreak may have on current primary care practices. The review highlighted difficulties with information sharing and access to information, the structure and difference from previous Coronaviruses, and the immunological reaction and response to this infectious disease. Certain countries documented clinical improvement with different approaches and techniques with good results. Till today no treatment exists, but researches are in the process along with the clinical trials of vaccines and plasma transfusion from patients recovered from COVID19. This paper concludes that there is a need to establish Inter-continental and worldwide dialogues within the GP community to increase knowledge and best practice sharing, alongside this GP's response to public health crises in different countries present an opportunity to improve pandemic preparedness.
Key words: COVID-19, Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), General Practitioner, Therapy
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