But the invisible foe—covid-19—has already escaped from our radar. It is spreading faster than anyone had expected. Between the period Down To Earth did its last cover story on coronavirus in February, and now writing this unprecedented second cover closing on March 20, cases outside China–the origin of the pandemic–have increased by 15-fold (see graph: “Tipping point”). Our helplessness to control this first non-flu pandemic of the 21st century has resulted in panic and hysteria. Health experts are no more hopeful of containment because we still don’t know the real number of cases from poor and developing countries that are ill-equipped to screen and count such cases.
This story is from the April 01, 2020 edition of Down To Earth.
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This story is from the April 01, 2020 edition of Down To Earth.
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