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Well, for the first time ever since I write the first article about this new virus, I am scared (genuinely) of the prospect of contracting this disease, even doing preventive measures sometimes is not good enough. No matter how we prepare ourselves to tackle this problem head-on, there will always be a tiny hole in which the virus might use to penetrate into our society.
Since the discover of the Novel-Coronavirus (2019-nCoV, now renamed SARS-COV-2 by WHO) in Wuhan, China PR earlier this year, many speculated that the worldwide spread would be inevitable, and unfortunately, it has come to reality. There are now as many as 119 territories and areas, including the Diamond Princess Cruise ship where there at least one confirmed case of the Coronavirus disease, or COVID-19. At the moment, Italy is recorded to have the most confirmed cases not only in Europe, but also in the world, outside of mainland China. The first outbreak started when two Chinese tourists were tested positive of the virus in the capital city of Rome. In Continental Asia, the Islamic Republic of Iran has the most cases, followed by South Korea and Japan. Few of Iranian government authorities, like Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Masoumeh Ebtekhar and deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi are confirmed to have contracted the disease. Indonesia, once (jokingly) claimed to be immune to this new pandemic, now has 34 confirmed cases, all within the Jakarta and West Java area, with 3 patients successfully recovered, and one fatality due to complications with other medical conditions. And for continental America, the United States recorded the most cases with 1.725 patients, 30 recovered and 41 deaths. It’s now safe to say that the virus has effectively spread across the globe, with the exception of most of the Southern and Central regions of Africa (All the cases recorded in the continent are mostly from the northern parts, some of which has direct sea borders to infected countries in Europe and the Middle East, another case recorded in the West/Central part of the continent, this being the Ivory Coast). The total cases combined from all countries and territories are currently sitting at the staggering number of 134.521, with 68. 927 of them successfully recovered and 4.974 deaths.
Apparently, the way this virus affects each and every person is different, depending of the age and the strength of their immunity system. Someone could be the carrier of the coronavirus without showing any symptoms, and some of them also display the most basic symptoms of either dry coughing, fever or respiratory problems. Almost all public places have thermal scanner posts for early prevention of the virus, with customers showing unnatural body temperature are removed from the premises and placed into isolation until further testing is conducted. Usually the isolation could last for two weeks, as the incubation process of the virus usually lasts within that time range. One case even revealed the longest incubation period of the virus itself, recorded at 27 days. It usually spreads from droplets from someone sneezing or coughing. It might not last very long in the air, but the virus has shown to be viable if it sticks to everyday objects and various surfaces around our environments. To combat this, disinfection is carried out, with substances such as 62-71% of ethanol being applied to the surface for one full minute. The WHO has stated that the transmission from symptomless person or fecal transmission is “very low” and “low” respectively. The number of deaths due to COVID-19 is also has its own trend, with most of the fatalities are happening among the elderly within the age of 80+, as shown in three countries with the most cases, which are PR China, South Korea and Italy.
Consequently, all countries have enforced many restrictions on travels or public activities. During the first spread in the mainland China, all countries were quick to enforce travel bans for trips going from and to China, especially Wuhan, and all travelers and tourists coming back before the ban are placed under isolation. Countries repatriate their citizens and quickly placed in quarantine areas to prevent public spreading. With current situations, all public activities, including sporting events or music concerts are either postponed or cancelled. Events like the upcoming Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix are cancelled, as well as Formula E’s Rome ePrix. Other dates in Paris, Seoul and Jakarta are also postponed, pending the current situation on respective countries. the Major League Soccer (and practically almost all sporting leagues in the US, like NBA for Basketball and NHL for Ice Hockey) postponed their seasons, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are in serious doubt due to the outbreak. Some events are held with the absence of spectators, like some UEFA Champions League and Europa League football (or soccer, as referred in the US) matches, the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series race in Atlanta Motor Speedway in Atlanta, GA, and the follow-up race in Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, FL. Some music festivals like Coachella are postponed, as well as the returning Hammersonic Metal Festival in Jakarta. Both festivals will be rescheduled on later dates. The current season of the English Premier League are also in jeopardy, now that it’s already towards the end of the season, with news of Arsenal’s Head Coach Mikel Arteta and Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi are both tested positive for COVID-19. Arteta’s news also affected Arsenal’s upcoming league fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion, slated to take place at the American Express Stadium in the city of Brighton. All members of both teams are currently on self-isolation in the wake of the announcement. Preventive measures have been enforced in other European leagues like Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s LaLiga by postponing the league until further notice, even the Italian Football Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, FIGC in Italian) has a worst-case scenario of stopping the league if the situations worsen. As of today, 5 people, including the previous two names mentioned above are confirmed as the patient for COVID-19, with the other three being Hannover 96’s Timo Huebers, Juventus’ Daniele Rugani, and Sampdoria’s Manolo Gabbiadini. McLaren F1 team pulled out from the Australian Grand Prix weekend after one of the team members has confirmed to have contracting the virus, resulting to subsequent cancellation of the race. The MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix is also cancelled for the premier class as well, with only Moto2 and Moto3 class bikes started the race. Both races acted as season openers for respective series. On the entertainment side of the spectrum, veteran actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson has confirmed positive with the disease in Australia, and currently isolating themselves. Few Hollywood movies also postponed their release date due to the outbreak, like the latest installment of the Fast Saga, Fast & Furious 9 and the final James Bond Movie to feature actor Daniel Craig as the 007 titled No Time to Die.
The pandemic doesn’t take its toll on public activities either. In some countries, once a COVID-19 case is announced, panic and distress ensued, and resulting on shortage of essential items like surgical masks and hand sanitizers, which in turn, making the items rare and more expensive. In Indonesia, the Police arrested some irresponsible individuals for mask-hoarding, with the intention of reselling it with unnaturally expensive prices. This trend is also happening in countries with high numbers of COVID cases.
Now being a global pandemic, the spread of COVID-19 has prompted world leaders to enforce restrictions on their countries, Italy has now placed under lockdown, and travel bans entering and exiting the exiting the country has been enforced. The same measure is also applied to countries like South Korea, Iran, Japan and other countries affected. But not all leaders take this threat seriously. Despite various measures being done in the US, President Donald Trump’s speech from the Oval Office is viewed as blatant lies, especially the part where he banned all flights coming from and to continental Europe, with the exception of the UK (for some unexplainable reason. Probably because of Brexit). The lying point from this claim is while the travel ban is in place, all American citizens and permanent residents are allowed to travel back from Europe, possibly from countries affected from the pandemic. If one of those returning Americans contracted the virus, all hell would break loose. This prospect is not helped with the fact that many Americans who are suspected of the disease has never been tested before, despite Trump’s claim that the testing is rapidly expanding. He also decided to deal the pandemic in the most Trump-way possible: blaming the virus and labeled it as “foreign virus”. He mostly compares the disease to that of a common flu. While the symptoms are similar, the SARS-COV-2 is a lot more deadly, since one of the key symptoms is shortness of breath, implying respiratory problems to some extent, which can be a fatal factor if not treated properly.
As of today, while cases around the world are currently rising, the Chinese cases are slowly winding down, with number of recovering patients slowly climbing, as well as other countries recovering in a slow but steady pace. While some countries are expecting the numbers to rise, some of the patients are slowly battling the virus and recovering. Let’s hope that the COVID-19 pandemic would end sooner rather than later. The world as we know today is already messed up, and this disease is not helping the case either.
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