New Delhi, March 14 "The Coronavirus: What You Need to Know about the Global Pandemic", penned in three weeks by three practising doctors and one of the first books on the infamous infection that has so far claimed over 5,600 lives globally with 150,657 confirmed cases, is now available for pre-order on e-commerce websites, its publisher announced.
Pegged as a must read, the book has been written by practising physician and internal medicine specialist Dr. Swapneil Parikh; medical researcher and clinical psychologist Maherra Desai; and Dr. Rajesh M. Parikh, Director Medical Research and Honorary Neuropsychiatrist at Mumbai's Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre.
The book is the first to address "the history, evolution, facts and myths around the COVID-19 pandemic. With the world trying to cope with the impact of this new coronavirus, here is a book that will demystify the outbreak and debunk myths that are causing quite a frenzy everywhere. It will tackle conspiracy theories and talk about the economic, political and social fallout of the pandemic," Penguin Random House said in a statement.
"The elusive symptoms of the virus are making it harder to identify and assess the potential threat. Amidst this, correct and expertly led information will be the key to mitigate the problem, and perhaps even clear the air," the statement added.
"Either humanity changes its approach to pandemics or pandemics will devastatingly change humanity," says co-author Swapneil Parikh.
According to co-author Maherra Desai, "the situation we are in was inevitable. We have had multiple unheeded warnings. Are we willing to learn this time around? We are invincible only to the extent of our preparedness."
"It has been an incredible experience to work on this book. Getting to know the phenomenal courage and dedication of healthcare workers across the world has made us look with renewed respect at our nursing and paramedical staff," co-author Rajesh M. Parikh said, adding: I like to believe that appreciating healthcare workers, my co-authors, publisher and the terribly awesome virus, all in less than 3 weeks, was a transformative experience."
Noting that there is a lot of scattered information about COVID-19 "floating around leading to fear and panic," Milee Ashwarya, Publisher, Ebury Publishing & Vintage Publishing, Penguin Random House India, added: "What we need most right now is credible information from professionals that can help us understand what coronavirus is, and how we can prepare and protect ourselves against it."
To this end, the book's co-authors "explain the dos, don'ts, bust the myths, explain the history and evolution of the virus and share insights into what lies ahead for us. This is a must read for everybody," Ashwarya added.
( With inputs from IANS )