Coronavirus Panic - Is The World Ready To Face A Pandemic?

More than a month after the first case was reported from China, there is little the world knows about the new coronavirus. The strain remains a mystery, its symptoms deceptively similar to common cold and there are no curative or preventive vaccine or medicine. What's certain is that the virus is highly contagious. In just 45 days, it has killed over 1,000 people in China and infected more than 40,000 in 27 countries. Worryingly, we have not yet seen the peak of the spread. Is the world ready to face a pandemic?

- Banjot Kaur And Alok Gupta

The Lunar New Year break has been uncomfortably long and quiet for almost 50 million people in China. Since January 23, the authorities have locked down some 13 cities, including Wuhan in the province of Hubei, which is the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Public transport and ride-hailing services have been suspended in this city of 11 million people. Trains and flights from the city have been suspended and people have been asked to leave their houses only for essential reasons like stocking up food. At places, the police has employed drones to ensure that people stay indoors. Travel restrictions and quarantine measures have also left streets, parks and shopping centres deserted in a dozen other cities, including Chibi, Zhejiang, Huangshi, Xiantao, Enshi, Qianjiang and Xiannning. The country’s largest metropolis, Shangahi, resembles a ghost city. As many criticise the government’s draconian enforcement of epidemic control laws, the government says the measures are to contain the spread of the virus that poses a “grave threat” as there is no preventive vaccine or cure for it.