Now That Coronavirus is a Pandemic
Pandemic is simply the global spread of a new disease. This is the term the World Health Organisation (WHO) now uses to designate the covid-19. As at Wednesday, 11th March, 2020, there were 118, 000 cases and more than 4, 000 deaths. The corona virus had also succeeded in spreading to every continent, except the Antarctica.
Fortunately, this is not the first time the world would be battling a pandemic, but unfortunately the statistics have not always been encouraging. Pandemics have been reported as early as 1580 and four pandemics of influenza were reported to have occurred in the 19th century.
The deadliest in recent history was the 1918 influenza pandemic, also dubbed the Spanish flu. It infected one-third of the world’s population and killed 50 million people worldwide. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted that more American soldiers were killed by the HN1 virus than were killed during the First World War.
Another pandemic was the novel influenza A H2N2 of 1957 that broke out in East Asia. 1.1 million people lost their lives globally to this scourge. Then in 1968, a pandemic caused by an influenza A H3N2 virus broke out in China, killing about one hundred thousand in China and 1 million worldwide.
In 2009, a novel influenza A H1N1 virus emerged in the US and rapidly spread globally, killing over 500 thousand people worldwide. The US CDC said the virus contained a unique combination of influenza genes not previously identified in animals or people. 80% of deaths recorded were estimated to have occurred in people younger than 65 years of age.
Fast forward to 2019, the world woke up to the news of corona virus from Wuhan in China and it has since continued to spread like wildfire. It is now on every continent, save the Antarctica. It has affected every aspect of life as it is known. Whole cities and businesses have been shut down. Only last Wednesday, Aliko Dangote lost N240 billion in five hours as the effect of the corona virus hit harder at the Stock Exchange. Sporting events are being cancelled. Last week, Juventus player Daniele Rugani, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta, Chelsea player Callum Odson Odoi, owner of Greek club Olympiakos and English club Nottingham Forest Evangelos Marinakis and wife of Canadian Prime Minister all tested positive to the virus. Certainly, life, as we know it, seems to be fast changing.
The corona virus is an RNA virus. RNA is a ribonucleic acid present in all living cells. This means that an RNA virus is a virus that has ribonucleic acid as its genetic material and it is extremely severe because it has high mutation.
The US has already suspended travel from Europe. Same goes for other countries where travel has been suspended from countries where the corona virus disease is most severe. Although government in Nigeria appears to be trying, but our borders are open to all. One gets the impression that many still think that Nigeria is not part of the world and that this pandemic cannot catch up with us if we do not get our acts together.
The government should not place the health of its people above international politics or political correctness. If a health minister in the UK, parliamentarians in Iran and a prominent Hollywood actor like Tom Hanks could be infected, the powers that be in Nigeria should know this virus is not poverty-restricted and quickly do right by Nigerians.
Written by Dimeji Daniels