Corona Virus

Panic is everywhere. It is    Corona Virus and even advanced countries don't know how to get rid of it quickly. As we go to press more and more reports of virus-related deaths are coming only to make the vulnerable in most third world countries shiver. Of late experts from World Health Organisation (WHO) are making rounds across the world without offering any permanent remedy to the deadly disease. What they are saying about mask, sanitation etc. is no perfect clinical solution.

Meanwhile, South Korea has declared "war" on the Corona virus as cases inside the country approach 5,000 and the WHO chief warns the world is in "uncharted territory".

South Korea has the most cases of Covid-19 after China and reported 600 new infections on recently, bringing the total number to 4,812. About 75% of the cases are in the south-eastern city of Daegu. The country also recorded a total of 28 deaths, pushing global fatalities over 3,100. Worldwide infections topped 90,000 in more than 60 countries.

President Moon Jae-in said the country was now waging "war" on the virus and the government would inject US$25bn (£19.5bn) into measures to contain it.

As South Korea stepped up efforts to contain the virus's spread, the WHO sent experts to Iran, which has more than 1,500 confirmed infections and 66 deaths from Covid-19—the highest number of fatalities outside China.

The semi-official Fars news agency said Iran was "accelerating measures" in the fight against the virus, stepping up the production of face masks and sterilising materials. A government spokesperson said efforts were being made to boost production of masks to 1.5m per day, Fars reported.

France, Germany and the UK were among countries that pledged to send emergency medical supplies to Iran. Health authorities there said teams would be deployed to go house-to-house checking on residents and disinfecting streets.

The WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a briefing in Geneva that the outbreaks in Iran, South Korea, Italy, and Japan were the most worrying.

"We are in uncharted territory with Covid-19", he said. "We have never before seen a respiratory pathogen that is capable of community transmission, but which can also be contained with the right measures.

But containment of Covid-19 is feasible and must remain the top priority for all countries. With early, aggressive measures, countries can stop transmission and save lives.

China reported 125 new cases, its slowest daily increase in six weeks (eight times as many cases were recorded outside of China as inside in the last 24 hours).
Italy, Europe's worst-hit country, recorded a spike in the number of deaths to 52 from 18 as the number of confirmed cases reached 1,835.
Health officials in the US, where 91 cases have been confirmed, said six people in the Seattle area of Washington state have died of Covid-19.
Washington has 18 confirmed cases, the most of any state in the US, eight of which have been linked to a nursing home in Seattle.
Donald Trump signalled he was considering additional travel restrictions into America to try to contain the spread of the Corona virus.
Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam, said that two chartered flights would bring 533 Hong Kong residents, including pregnant women and cancer patients, back from Wuhan.
The Australian prime minister warned against panic buying, as the central bank cut interest rates to a historically low 0.5% in an attempt to protect the economy.
Cruise ship passengers at Reunion island were threatened by violent protests.
UK supermarkets draw up plans to "feed the nation".

In China, cities tightened restrictions on travellers coming from overseas. Chen Bei, the deputy secretary general of the Beijing municipal government, said the other day that foreigners and Chinese nationals coming from South Korea. Iran, Japan and Italy must be quarantined for 14 days. Travellers can be quarantined at home or at a government-approved quarantine facility. Shanghai and Guangdong province have announced similar measures. In truth Covid-19 is spreading across the world.

'This epidemic has highlighted the importance of biosecurity", he said, according to the state-run China Daily. "China will speed-up the process of building the legal and support apparatus for national biosecurity".

Chinese authorities asked overseas-based citizens to reconsider or minimise their travel plans as the epidemic spreads across the world, triggering a rise in the number of imported cases arriving in the country.

Indian government is always late in responding to any emergency situation. And the authorities look reluctant to react despite some reported cases of Corona virus. Outbreak of 2-positive—Covid-19 case in India has been reported. Both patients is being closely monitored.

The Corona virus has so far engulfed about 89 thousand people worldwide. The impact of this deadly virus has spread to 70 countries so far. South Korea has the highest impact on the virus after China.

Washington health officials said Sunday night that another person died of Corona virus. This is the second case of death from this virus in the US. Researchers said that the virus that had been spreading for several weeks in the greater Seattle area could not be detected. The public health service of Seattle and King County said in a statement that a 70-year-old man died of Corona virus. Earlier on Friday, a 50-year-old man was killed by the virus, health officials said. Both were suffering from health-related diseases. Both were treated at a hospital in Kirkland, Eastern Seattle. In Washington, 12 cases of infection have been confirmed so far. Seattle-area officials said the condition of two infected persons of about 60 years is critical, which was treated for a COVID-19 virus infection.

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Frontier
Vol. 52, No. 40, April 5 - 11, 2020