Coronavirus is spreading across the world with three new hotspots emerging out of Mainland China – Iran, Italy, and South Korea. With the virus now spread in nearly 50 countries, stock markets falling, and industries shutting down, strong measures are required to stop or slow down this viral epidemic. WHO has asked countries to remain prepared for a ‘pandemic‘.
Crux of the Matter
Cor-Iran-Virus The emergence of Coronavirus from Iran has startled the world. With more than 80,000 cases and 2,700 deaths globally, sprouting of the disease outside the epicenter China has brought the disease to be on the verge of ‘pandemic‘, officially. Although Iran and China have trade links, tracing the virus has been a sweaty task and that has raised alarms. Situation in Iran has exacerbated to an extent that its Health Minister, Iraj Harichi and Vice President, Masoumeh Ebtekar have tested positive for Coronavirus. As of now, Iran has 95 positive cases and 15 deaths. Statistically speaking, the mortality rate from the virus in Iran is a startling 11%, while China’s is 3.5%. Though, the numbers in Iran cannot be verified as Iranian officials seem to conceal the scale of the epidemic.
“I say this to you from my heart, look after yourselves.” Iran's deputy health minister has tested positive for the coronavirus, as the country struggles with one of the worst outbreaks outside of China. Read the latest: https://t.co/M9xmITqdcK pic.twitter.com/jwuw9WRdSz — Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) February 25, 2020
Iranian outbreak worries also because of the inefficient medical services available for the diagnosis and preliminary treatment. Of the reported cases, the majority of them are elderly or people who are dying. Children and people with weak immune systems remain at the crosshair of Coronavirus. Iran has also refused to quarantine its cities. Qom, a city that has the largest number of cases has not been shut down and the mosque gatherings in it have continued. The outbreak in Iran poses a threat to other Middle East nations.
MidEast on Alert Realizing the rising threat in the next-door country Iran, Saudi Arabia, wary of the virus spread, decided to cancel Islam’s holiest pilgrimage ‘Hajj‘ at Mecca. In 1821, the Cholera outbreak in Hajj in Mecca killed 20,000. 1865 Cholera outbreak resulted in 15,000 pilgrim deaths and in a worldwide epidemic. Middle East and North African nations have been on alert as 9 MidEast nations have reported positive cases.
Outbreak in Italy Italy is one of the three hotspots of virus spread outside Mainland China. With a 25% spike in the number of reported cases, the toll of virus-hit reached 400 in just 24 hours. More than 10 deaths have been reported and cities of Lombardy and Veneto have been quarantined since the surge. Cases in Europe have started rising, shifting the focus from Mainland China to the rest of the world, mainly Europe, Middle East, and South Korea. Greece, Switzerland, Croatia, Norway, North Macedonia, and Austria have reported their cases that mostly include people who traveled to Italy.
South Korea South Korea is the worst-affected country outside Mainland China. On Friday, with South Korea reporting 256 new cases, the toll of positive cases crossed 2,000. Nearly, 90% of the new cases have emerged from Daegu, the epicenter city in South Korea. As of now, South Korea has not taken any steps to prevent the inflow of people from China, its largest trading partner. On the other hand, Hong Kong has suspended the entry of Chinese people.
Drive-thru coronavirus testing clinic in South Korea. Innovation drives resilience. pic.twitter.com/XxPEeSGo3J — ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) February 26, 2020
Coronavirus Travelling Oceans New Zealand and Nigeria are the latest nations to report positive cases of Coronavirus. A Kiwi citizen who had visited Iran recently has been diagnosed with the virus. The virus has even spread to countries like Estonia, and Croatia. With the virus
Japan's Prime Minister has asked all elementary, junior high and high schools to close until the end of March as coronavirus spreads https://t.co/dpNTAOKNeQ — CNN (@CNN) February 27, 2020
India Brings Back Quarantined An Indian Airforce (IAF) plane brought back 76 Indians and 36 nationals, belonging to USA, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Maldives, South Africa, and Madagascar, from China’s Hubei province. The C-17 Globemaster carried 15 tonnes of medical supplies to China.
The evacuees will go through a thermal screening procedure at the tarmac of the airport after which they will be kept at our facility in Chhawla area for quarantine. – Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Spokesperson
The 112 people who have been brought from China have been sent to an ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) facility located on the periphery of Delhi. These people will be quarantined for 14 days.
Consignment (15 tonnes) of Indian medical relief for #COVID19 lands in Wuhan. Strong expression of our solidarity with the Chinese people at this difficult time. Thank you @IAF_MCC and @EOIBeijing for your efforts. pic.twitter.com/v2ph3LHogM — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 26, 2020
Why has WHO not declared it as Pandemic? Fingers have been pointed at the World Health Organization (WHO) for not declaring the Coronavirus epidemic as ‘pandemic‘ yet. For a pandemic, there are two kinds of responses, 1) containment: During a pandemic, you isolate the affected and quarantine their associations to stop the outbreak. This was carried out during Ebola and SARS. 2) mitigation: During a pandemic, there is a ‘community spread’, and to slow the epidemic countries need to curb mass gatherings. For instance, China and Italy have shutdown cities to stop the spread. WHO has warned of a potential pandemic, but it will not declare it unless the epidemic meets its criteria.
The increase in cases outside China has prompted some media and politicians to push for a pandemic to be declared. We should not be too eager to declare a pandemic without a careful and clear-minded analysis of the facts…Using the word pandemic carelessly has no tangible benefit, but it does have significant risk in terms of amplifying unnecessary and unjustified fear and stigma, and paralyzing systems. – WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
It seems that the WHO has not yet rung the pandemic bell because it does not want to create unnecessary panic. Already, stock markets across the world have seen a slowdown. Many industries have been shut down in China and other affected parts over the fear of Coronavirus. WHO Director-General believed that declaring the disease a pandemic might make countries impose anti-flu measures and any false alarms might spiral into a financial burden.
Pretty sure that supplies of critical components to Indian car factories will be hit, but this is why testing is also required in India https://t.co/EBPCDsaIyi — Kushan Mitra (@kushanmitra) February 28, 2020
Curiopedia
Incidents During Hajj – During the 1821 Hajj, about 20,000 Meccan pilgrims died due to a cholera epidemic. The disease had started in India in 1817. Another cholera epidemic began in 1863. It started in the Ganges Delta of the Bengal region and traveled with Muslim pilgrims to Mecca during the 1865 hajj. In its first year, the epidemic claimed the life of 15,000 to 90,000 pilgrims. Cholera spread throughout the Middle East and was carried to Russia, Europe, Africa and North America. It resulted in the death of almost 600,000 people. In 1905 the El Tor strain of cholera was discovered in six pilgrims returning from Hajj at the El-Tor quarantine camp in Egypt. More Info
Curated Coverage
BBC – Coronavirus: Iran’s deputy health minister tests positive as outbreak worsens
Al Jazeera – Saudi Arabia halts travel to Mecca, Medina over coronavirus
CNN World – Coronavirus reaches sub-Suharan Africa as markets tumble worldwide
Economic Times – Why WHO has not declared Coronavirus as a pandemic
Al Jazeera – Iran VP infected; Saudi halts pilgrimage: All the latest updates
NDTV – Coronavirus: Indian Air Force Brings Back 112, Including 76 Indians Stranded In China’s Wuhan
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