Virus goes viral

 Even before the World Health Organization (WHO) finally woke up to the reality on the global spread of Covid-19 or Coronavirus, it had already spread to 114 countries where 118,000 have contracted the virus and more than 4300 died as on March 11,2020. Covid-19 is caused by the virus, known as SARS-CoV2 believed to have originated in bats and spread to human. The virus first started infecting people in Wuhan, China, last year in late November or early December. In December, when the virus ravaged Wuhan and rapidly spread across several Chinese provinces and also nearby countries such as Korea, Japan, Singapore etc, WHO did not deem fit to declare it as a pandemic situation. Now WHO says that Covid-19 is likely to spread further across the globe.That itself is a frightening scenario. Already, several countries have already imposed a travel ban which has badly hit international flights including travel by ship or trains.WHO officials had said earlier they were hesitant to call the outbreak a pandemic in case it led governments and individuals to give up the fight. This is a specious argument and only raises suspicions whether it was due to some lobbies to not create an economic crisis. WHO stressed that fundamental public health interventions can still limit the spread of the virus and drive down cases even where it was transmitting widely, as the work of authorities and communities in China, Singapore, and South Korea has shown. Brazil’s health minister Henrique Mandetta has criticised WHO for its slow response which he said, has only complicated work by health authorities. After months of confusion, health authorities will now be enabled to direct anyone with symptoms to report to a health care unit for further tests. Earlier, when WHO declared Covid-19 as an emergency, health authorities could only direct travellers arriving from China to undergo tests. In India, Covid-19 has resulted in a meltdown in stock markets to their lowest since 2008. So far, there are over seventy confirmed Covid-19 cases which also include the 16 Italian tourists. Closer to the north east, one traveller to Bhutan who had spent some days in Guwahati was tested positive. The mammoth challenge of undertaking random thermal then laboratory tests and quarantine etc in India, is no mean task.This can be gauged from the statement of union health minister Dr. HarshVardhan who informed the Lok Sabha that more than 600,000 people had been tested for the virus at the country’s 21 airports and 77 seaports. He also said more than 27,000 people living in five states near the border with neighbouring Nepal have been put under surveillance and a million people tested in the area. However, the efforts are inadequate to halt the spread. This is because the incubation period – between infection and showing any symptoms – lasts up to 14 days. Some researchers say it may even be up to 24 days.That means many people who test negative at air and seaports may be carrying the infection into India’s teeming cities and villages. To add to the challenge, the quality of public health system is vastly uneven.Existing hospitals can be easily overwhelmed by a sudden spike in admissions. It is not clear whether there are ample supplies of masks, gloves, gowns, drugs and ventilators. A renowned Virologist Jacob John says India will struggle to handle an outbreak since an overwhelming number of the country’s health care system is woefully lacking in terms of trained manpower as well as up to date equipment.