You must have all heard about 'The Novel Corona virus' in the news. Given the huge loss the world has incurred because of this threat to humanity, it would be in all our interest to learn more about this disease afflicting the world -particularly China. So lets separate, the reality and fats from the myth and fear mongering.
8. Mitigating Efforts by the Countries-
1. What are 'Corona Viruses'?
Corona Viruses are a large family of biological viruses with some causing less severe common cold to more dangerous disease such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS).
The Novel Corona Virus is a new strain of this Corona Virus family which has not been previously identified.
2. Spreading/ International Public Health concern-
It is a 'zoonotic' Virus that is it is transmitted between animals and humans. Initially it spread from animals( bats) to humans and then Human to Human transmission occured.In this context, bats were the main perpetuator of this strain of corona virus.
As per the records, Wuhan's sea market was the first primary site of infection i.e. the first cases were reported in the people who visited this animal market. From there on the effect was primarily human to human.
3. Symptoms-
Usually people infected with the virus show high fever and common cold like symptoms i.e. fatigue accompanied by dry cough and difficulty in breathing. Some serious cases can cause pneumonia, kidney failure and even death. However not all people show these symptoms( people with healthy immune system).
The incubation period of this virus is 14 days i.e. it takes close to 14 days for a person to show these symptoms after being infected.
4. Prevention-
As of yet, the virus has no cure, though many nations and Multinational Companies are trying to develope vaccines.
Personal basic hygiene, like washing hands, covering your mouth while coughing or sneezing and properly cooking meat and eggs are few ways to mitigate the risk of infection.
5. Scope of spread-
As of yet, the virus has spread to many countries- Japan, USA, Thailand, Philippines etc. including India(Kerala). Acknowledging this vast swate of infected area, WHO has declared this virus a Public Health Emergence of International Concern.
6. Human cost of virus-
As of yet, approx 1400 people have died in China. Some deaths were also reported in neighbouring countries like Japan and Philippines etc.
7. Economic Cost -
Although human cost of virus is of great concern, it pales in comparison with its economic cost. As per estimates of International Agencies, The spread of this virus will shave of 1% of China's GDP ( 141 billion dollars) and 0.3% of Global GDP(252 billion dollars). Meaning that thousands of people that were engaged in any economic activity have closed down their shops. This has further effected all the people integrated with all the activity with China i.e. the entire supply chain has taken a huge hit. Hence, the significant downgrading of global GDP.
8. Mitigating Efforts by the Countries-
Almost all countries have evacuated their citizens from Wuhan including India. China itself has put the entire Wuhan in complete lockdown with no flights going in or out. It has also built 2 big hospitals in virtually 10 days.
