Fear, alarm and despondence are what Covid 19 has brought into the world. What started as a wonderful new year, 2020 has turned out to be a year of mourning. Hardly have we gone a quarter of the year and the world is at the mercy of this unprecedented disease. It all started in the city of Wuhan in China in December with people presenting themselves with flue like symptoms. Nobody expected that this disease would cause so much pain and grief to the entire universe. The causation of the ailment is said to originate from bats and snakes and was passed to humans through consumption of snacks by the Chinese. Sea food is also linked to the cause of Covid 19. What started as a delicacy for the Chinese people has turned out to be fatal. Covid 19 largely known as the coronavirus was first discovered in China’s Wuhan city. Thousands infections were reported with thousands of deaths recorded. However amid this revelation the Chinese continued to hide this from the entire world. Journalists using social media and some doctors who took it upon themselves brought this alarming hidden Chinese secret to the world. By this time the situation in Wuhan had already deteriorated to an extent that a lot of lives had been lost.
The World Health Organization intervened and the town of Wuhan was quarantined and locked down from the rest of China. WHO then went on to announce how this virus is spread. The World Health Organizations through its medical experts issued a statement on how the disease was spread and which human organs were prune to it. Covid 19 infects the coronary system from the nose, mouth, infecting the lungs. This can also lead to kidney failure leading to death. The virus thrives in watery or wet places. The eyes, nose and mouth are ideal for its breading. Since it is a flue like virus it is easily spread. In Wuhan within a period of less than twenty one days from its discovery thousands of people were already infected. Over 3000 deaths were recorded in Wuhan prompting the Chinese Government to come up with drastic preventive measures which saw Wuhan locked down.
As much as these measures were meant to curb the spread of the virus, countries further away of China began to report new cases within their boundaries. The horror experienced in Wuhan strategically passed on to other countries.
Iran and South Korea reported that some of their citizens have been infected and that both the authorities of these countries have not been transparent on the reporting of the pandemic. Within a short period the devastating effects of the virus was felt in Europe. Italy was hard hit reporting the highest death rate after China. Spain was not spared either with a lot of European announcing to the world that they have been infected. As I write major European cities are locked down. Milan in Italy has witnessed the most deaths in Europe. In the United Kingdom to curb the spread of the virus the government came up with stern measures to control the spread of the heinous disease.
The United States of America has not been spared also with over 40 000 cases reported in New York. This has sent the Trump Administration into panic. Stringent measures like those being implemented in Europe have been adopted by the American government. The USA Senate is currently debating on a bill which seeks to avail 47 Billion Dollars for medical care in order to fight the scourge.
Covit 19 is problematic, unlike HIV and AIDS were drugs to reverse the symptoms have been found, Covit19 currently has no cure or vaccine. World scientist are at pains to come with a cure for this dreadful ailment. The world can only wait and hope that a miracle occurs to stop this virus. World leaders have explained to their citizens that drastic times like this call for drastic measures. It becomes imperative that the safety of the nation take precedence over everything else.
Europe has seen a lock down which has seen its economy being adversely affected. For the first time since World War II supermarkets in the United Kingdom displayed empty shelves due to panic buying. All gathering in Europe have banned with people advised to stay at home. India imposed a 24 hour cafew to access its state of preparedness. This ventually bought New Delhi to halt. This was then followed by a 14 Day lockdown. In America the Federal government has contemplating deploying the Coast Guard in affected states to try and limit the people from transmitting the disease by unnecessary movements? South America has also recorded a number of infections in Brazil and Colombia. So far Africa has not being spared either but has recorded the less number of deaths and infections.
South Africa has announced the closure of its boarders starting 25 March till further notice and has instituted a host of measures to try and control the disease. Its northern neighbor has followed suit with its President ordering schools to close down and barn all gathering of 50 people and above. And he emphasized that they are still more measures to be availed.
With no vaccine and cure found, the only logical way to fight epidemic is to prevent it from spreading. There is no option, government have to protect their people. Though this seems to be a violation of many basic human rights, in times like this, what needs to be done should be done expediently. One has to look at the grim picture of Milan in Italy, were military convoys carrying corpses were seen leaving the city. The thousands dying in Wuhan and hundreds of people being admitted into hospitals in Spain. Sadly the disease has not spared medical personnel, with a huge number of doctors and nurses have been infected in Wuhan in China. Current statistics show that in most affected countries one out every ten people is infected. These have put a strain on the medical personnel who have sacrificed themselves to assist the infected. As you can see the situation remains gloom and with no cure in sight prevention should be a priority. Those showing the symptoms of Covic 19 should self-quarantine. If their situation does not change they should quarantined under medical supervision. Good hygiene standard should be set at all levels. Governments should distribute media to make the people aware of this catastrophe. People should also be self-disciplined to adhere to measures being taken to try to curb this killer disease. In conclusion for the first time the world is faced with one common enemy and should do all it can to control and eradicate this epidemic. Countries with fewer resources should be assisted so as to save humanity.
