The coronavirus or Covid-19 has become the most talked topic across the world. Within a span of just two and a half months this virus has infected people around 186 countries and territories. With 285,000 people infected already and more than 11,000 deaths, this disease has been declared as Pandemic by WHO. With the drastic increase in this number daily, the big question faced now is, “Will coronavirus end the world !!!”
Coronavirus disease is an infectious disease which causes respiratory illness like flu, with symptoms cough, fever, and in severe cases causing breathing difficulties. This virus spreads primarily through the droplets of the infected persons when they cough or sneeze, and through droplets of saliva or running nose.
The main source of coronavirus is believed to be the wet market in Wuhan (a city in Chain) which sells both dead and live animals and birds. Such places are prone to be at risk of viruses jumping from animals to humans. This area is densely packed and hygiene standards are not maintained.
The virus which originated from China is now spreading at an alarming rate throughout the world.
Steps to be followed to prevent the coronavirus from spreading:
- Avoid close contact with an infected person. Try to maintain a healthy distance so that the virus cannot be transmitted.
- Avoid touching nose, mouth, and eyes, as these are the entry points of the virus to the body.
- Stay at home when you are sick
- Cover the mouth and nose while sneezing. This will prevent the spread of infection to others.
- Clean the frequently touched objects in the house and office with disinfectants.
- Clean your hands with hand sanitizers or soaps, as frequently as possible.
Why coronavirus is so deadly now?
There is no specific treatment for coronavirus so far. Scientists from all over the world are trying to develop a vaccine for this, but so far there has been no success. Few scientists believe that covid-19 has muted into two strains, one being more aggressive than others, which is making it even more complicated to develop a vaccine.
How bad is the coronavirus effect?
At present looking at the death rate this might not sound to be very alarming. The 1918 Spanish Influenza or the H1NI virus still remains to be more deadly with estimated deaths of 50 and 100 million.
But with the wide spreading of coronavirus from Asia to Europe, Africa, America, and ANZ, there is no way that this pandemic disease can be ignored. Europe is the 2nd largest affected after Asia. Countries like Italy, Spain, France, and Germany are seeing exponential growth of infected persons in the last couple of weeks.
The only way to avoid this virus from spreading more is by maintaining social distancing. Many countries have opted for months of shutdown. The government has urged to stop all nonessentials businesses for some time until there is a break on this spread.
The chain has shut down most of its industries. Italy, German and Spain have asked people to remain at home all the time. There have been restrictions on people gathering. Schools and colleges across the globe have been closed. Most of the IT and IT-enabled service offices have been asked to close the offices and the employees are asked to work from home.
Travel to other nations has been monitored. Non-important travels have been asked to cancel or postpone.
Many sporting events like the French Open (Roland-Garros) have been postponed. The racing event Formula One has also canceled a few of their races and opted for a virtual race. The famous Indian Premier League (IPL) has been postponed now.
There have been serious discussions going on for the postponement of the Olympics-2020 which is planned in Tokyo.
Coronavirus impact on Global economy:
The coronavirus outbreak has created a major outbreak on the global economy and financial institutions. There has already been a dip of more than 20% in the world economy. The major financial institutions are shut and the Shares Market is bleeding.
China’s manufacturing sector has seen a major drop in production. China constitutes ⅓ of the world’s manufacturing sector. So this downtrend in China is showing direct impacts on the other countries’ economies.
Major banks and institutions have cut their forecast for the global economy.
Travel and tourism industries are facing their worst fears. Main carriers like Emirates and Lufthansa are getting impacted directly on their revenues, as countries are shutting down their international terminals.
Experts are seeing these global impacts as similar to or even worse than World War 2.
So will coronavirus end the world?
Well, it’s definitely too early to predict this, but with the way the virus is spreading at an alarming rate across the world, one cannot completely ignore this question.
Governments from all over the world are taking up precautionary measures to curb this virus from spreading. Many places are locked down and people are asked to stay at home.
Maintaining a safe distance from the infected person is one of the best ways to avoid it from spreading. This means the solution depends on how each individual citizen behaviors. The media is doing a fantastic job by spreading awareness about this. The government is urging each one to act more sensibly and responsibly to prevent the spread.
But still, it seems that not everyone is taking this as seriously as it should be taken. There are instances reported from Australia and Miami where people are enjoying their holiday breaks in beaches. The coronavirus spreads easily in such social gatherings from one infected person to a healthy person.
It’s sad to see that people from such developed countries behave in such irresponsible ways when the rest of the world is struggling to stop this.
The world economy which has got hit so badly in the last couple of months will take its own course of time to recover, and will definitely bounce back.
The immediate need of the hour is to stop this virus from spreading more. It’s the responsibility of each citizen across the world to take the safety measures and adhere to what the Government in charge is asking them to do.
Together we can and we will be able to stop this virus and prevent the world from coming to an end!!