Short Note on COVID-19 and Medicinal Plants

Medicinal plants have been used for a very long time that span
the history of mankind. They are plants that possess special active
compounds with the potential to alleviate or cure certain ailments
and diseases. These compounds can possibly cure a disease or
alleviate its symptoms through various mechanisms. This is chiefly
due to their unique pharmacological properties. Indigenous plants
with medicinal properties on the other hand are plants that are
native to a particular geographic location. These plants, therefore,
occur naturally in such a location without having been brought in
from a different geographic location. COVID-19 is a highly
infectious viral disease caused by the novel coronavirus. This
disease is transmitted through contact with droplets from an
infected person when they sneeze or cough. Although COVID-19
has claimed the lives of millions of people across the world,
several vaccines have now been developed for this pandemic.
These vaccines are however in limited supply and expensive.
Therefore, indigenous medicinal plants offer a cheaper alternative
to tackling COVID-19. However, so far, they have not been
actively investigated.