Over the last few days, news about outbreak of coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan had been making rounds all across the world including India and levels of concern and response thereto had been moderate until Tuesday afternoon when the number of confirmed cases jumped by over 60 % within 24 hours to surge past 4,500 and death toll crossing over 100 and counting. If this is a cause of concern, a report published in The Washington Times quoting a former Israeli military intelligence officer saying that the strain of coronavirus is likely to be linked to a lab associated with China’s clandestine biological warfare programme has shattered nerves further. Fear has gripped entire South East Asia and each country of this region is busy devising precautionary firewalls. India, like most countries has taken the initiative to evacuate the stranded Indians from Wuhan without delay and although no positive cases had been reported as on late Tuesday evening, given the gravity of the situation, it’s sure that it’s time to employ all precautionary measures at first hand and most importantly, do all that are necessary to contain mass panic.
It’s not without reasons why the global medical community is terming coronavirus as mysterious. Most of the questions surrounding it have thus far have remained beyond the scope of any definite answers and among other aspects, the key goal now is to determine how fast it could spread. Also, there is no confirmed answer as to how long an infected person might take to show symptoms and whether the virus has the capability to infect others even if the carrier apparently shows no symptomatic signs. And according to medical experts, it’s all primarily due to a limited knowledge base that makes the tackling part very challenging even for medically advanced countries. Coming to India, to have a hint of on-ground realities it will be pertinent to recall the Global Health Security (GHS) Index 2019 released in October last year which is an indicator of a country’s capacity to prevent, detect and respond to health emergencies. India was ranked 57th out of 195 countries with a score of 46.5 out of 100, which is nothing encouraging.
Even if there is no cause of alarm till now, it will be rational to make adequate preparations beforehand with collaborative efforts on the part of Centre and States including all that of Northeast without waiting for an outbreak. Improving surveillance and quarantine mechanisms at all major airports and along the Nepal border, keeping adequate stock of medicines and fluids at all public healthcare facilities, public awareness campaigns on precautionary measures, 24x7 information helplines are a few among basics that shouldn’t be missed. It’s better to stress on all available precautionary and preventive measures since coronavirus is increasingly proving to be lethal. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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