Chennai: The Corona virus outbreak that began in China is spreading fast throughout the world and has seen more cases worldwide than the last known outbreak from China, which was the SARS. On Wednesday, the mortality rate in China had crossed the 130-mark and several countries were making attempts to bring back unaffected citizens before the country goes into total shutdown.
Recently, a new variation fo the known corona virus was seen to affect people in the Hubei area of Wuhan province, China. The sickness, which often began like a respiratory issue or cold and progressed to pneumonia, proved fatal and within days has outstripped the last major disease to spread from China: the SARS. The death count and the number of suspected cases have gone up drastically and the virus reportedly spreads from human to human, a feature that usually ends up in especially horrific outbreaks like the black plague. As of now, there is no known medicine or vaccine to combat Corona and the victims are being treated for their symptoms as the scientists' race against the clock to find a cure. The first stages of research reportedly have shown promise with a common antibiotic helping curb the incidence of the disease in animals. There are 5,972 confirmed cases in China currently. SARS, which had killed 349 people in Mainland China and 770 people globally, was contracted by only around 5,300 cases throughout the outbreak.
Embassy of India in Beijing, China: We urge all Indian citizens from Hubei who have not yet contacted the Embassy to do so urgently on our hotlines (+8618610952903, +8618612083629, +8618612083617) or dedicated email ID helpdesk.beijing@mea.gov.in #Coronoavirus https://t.co/PTKC7uvY9S
— ANI (@ANI) January 29, 2020
Though the UNO has not yet classified the disease into an international emergency, sources say the move was the result of lack of information rather than lack of concern. As Australia flagged over 5 cases in a day, all countries had adopted airport screening immediately and even Spain, which does not have direct flights to Wuhan, had issued advisory and warning to travellers.
On Wednesday, the US evacuated about 240 nationals including the staff of the US consulate and the plane was reportedly making a re-screening and fuel stop in Alaska before moving on to California. Japan evacuated about 206 nationals from Wuhan in a government chartered flight. There are about 600 Japan nationals stuck in Wuhan and JApan is planning further flights to bring back people. Around four of them were later taken to quarantine for observation as they were running a cold. The Biritsh Airways has suspended all flights to and from Mainland China, while France has decided to continue operations to Beijing and Shanghai. Australia is setting up a quarantine facility on the Christmas Island.
Officials in Germany said four people from the same company were infected after one of them contracted it from a colleague while visiting their workplace in China. Delhi AIIMS has set up a quarantine ward and Kerala alone has kept over 630 people who had travelled to China, under observation. Tamil students in Wuhan Medical University are reportedly scrambling for basic amenities, and an Indian teacher in China was seeking monetary help for treatment as the costs were nearly 1 crore rupees.
Meanwhile in Chennai, though there is a cursory screening in place, no major measure has been implemented in the wake of Corona. The plan to set up a quarantine centre within the airport compound had been formulated back in 2014 during the spread of Ebola virus; Though the land was identified back then, construction - literally even the first digging for the foundations - is yet to be done after six years. Currently, the airport staff plans to take any suspect case to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General hospital, which is about under an hour away from the airport.