“Life is of paramount importance. When an epidemic breaks out, a command is issued. It is our responsibility to prevent and control it,” Chinese President Xi Jinping has said
By Genc Mlloja
Senior Diplomatic Editor
“Authorities and healthcare system here (in China) are working heroically,” has said the Albanian Ambassador to Beijing, Selim Belortaja expressing solidarity for those who are engaged in the massive fight to put under control the dramatic situation created in China because of the coronavirus epidemic.
“The actual number of deaths does not show well the risk potential that is also accepted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and could potentially aggravate in the coming days,” said Ambassador Belortaja on January 25 strongly advising Albanian citizens to postpone travel and physical contact with China until the situation is completely under control. “Please be informed as best you can and convince yourself before entering a dangerous situation due to the virus but also due to unusual controls,” said Mr. Belortaja, a well known diplomat for his outspokenness. The top diplomat in Beijing informed Albanians that Chinese authorities had strengthened the measures to prevent coronavirus which included closing of transportation, cancellation of celebrations and gatherings, controlling of citizens’ movements, etc.
More than 1,300 cases have been confirmed worldwide, including 237 in critical condition, and 41 people have died. A 62-year-old doctor at a Wuhan hospital who contracted the virus from a patient has died, WHO quoted on January 24 Chinese State media as saying.
Hospitals in Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak, are calling on public support for protective supplies such as masks and suits, as supplies run low and the number of cases grows daily. China has quarantined multiple cities, encompassing about 35 million people, to try to contain the spread of the virus.
In the meantime Wuhan is set to build a hospital in six days in order to treat patients suspected of contracting the coronavirus, reported BBC on January 25. The outbreak began in Wuhan, home to around 11 million people. Hospitals in the city have been flooded with concerned residents and pharmacies are running out of medicine. According to state media, the new hospital will contain about 1,000 beds. Video footage posted online by Chinese state media shows diggers already at the site, which has an area of 25,000 square metres. It is based on a similar hospital set up in Beijing to help tackle the Sars virus in 2003.
“It’s basically a quarantined hospital where they send people with infectious diseases so it has the safety and protective gear in place,” said Joan Kaufman, lecturer in global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School as quoted by BBC.
Xi: ‘When an epidemic breaks out, a command is issued’
“Life is of paramount importance. When an epidemic breaks out, a command is issued. It is our responsibility to prevent and control it,” President Xi Jinping has said at the meeting of the Chinese Communist Party chaired by him. A central committee to oversee work to contain the virus was set up at the meeting held on Saturday, according to Xinhua state news agency.
President Xi warned that the spread of the coronavirus presents a “grave situation,” as officials from central China to Hong Kong struggle to stop the spread of the disease that has so far infected more than 1,400 people worldwide and killed 41.
The party meeting, chaired by Xi, set up a central committee to oversee work to contain the virus. Groups will be sent to Hubei province, the center of the outbreak, to work directly on the ground. Xi ordered all levels of government to “put people’s life and health as top priority,” according to Xinhua.
Earlier on January 20 in a statement President Xi spoke of the need for the timely release of information and the deepening of international cooperation. He also stressed the necessity of informing the public of relevant policies to safeguard social stability and ensure people have a peaceful and auspicious Chinese New Year festival. For this reason heightened attention and all-out prevention and control efforts are intact.
For his part, Premier Li Keqiang also instructed related government departments and localities to improve response plans and spare no effort in prevention and control in this regard. He also demanded better communication and coordination with the World Health Organization, related countries, as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to join efforts to curb the spread of the virus.
Hong Kong has declared a citywide emergency, closing primary and secondary schools for several weeks and halting flights and trains between Hong Kong and the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the disease was first detected.
US companies like Ford, General Motors and Fiat have started restricting employee travel to Wuhan, and French automaker PSA group said it plans to evacuate its employees and their families from the locked-down city. The State Department also plans to evacuate Wuhan consulate employees.
Cases have also been confirmed in Australia, Malaysia, France and the US. Most of the deaths have been in older patients, although a 36-year-old man died this week. Officials also said a 2-year-old girl has been infected.
“An example of global collaboration and solidarity”
The World Health Organization has declined to declare the virus a global health emergency as of yet, but said the virus is spreading from human-to-human contact. In face of the grave situation it has launched the appeal for global collaboration to prepare and respond together, said the statement released by the Organization, which added that there is need for the international community to work together as one to combat the infectious disease.
The evolving outbreak that began in China is “a sign that every country needs to be ready to timely detect and manage outbreaks of any type”, the World Health Organization was quoted by the UN News portal on January 25 as saying.
Virus infections have now been reported on four continents, including in Australia, France and the United States, among recent travelers to China. Several other countries in Asia have reported cases as well, said WHO.
In the meantime WHO’s Regional Office for Europe has officially been notified of the first novel #coronavirus cases in Europe. Three cases have been confirmed in France and WHO is in contact with the relevant authorities. WHO encourages countries in the European Region to continue to prepare. Last Friday, France officially notified the WHO Regional Office for Europe of three confirmed cases – two in Paris and one in Bordeaux. All of them had travelled from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, and are now hospitalized in France.
“Timely action is fundamental for early containment”, underscored WHO, commending France for quickly notifying WHO and rapidly issuing a public communication, saying that it not only exemplified the proper steps forward, but also illustrated “an example of global collaboration and solidarity”.
At a time of uncertainty about how the virus originated and behaves, WHO spells out that “it is even more critical that countries, organizations and the international community act as one”.
“We need to move as one region, as one world in scaling up our ability to prepare and respond together”, said the statement released by World Health Organization. “The time is now to make ourselves ready”, said WHO, adding that, together with Chinese authorities, it is doing everything it can to investigate the outbreak.
Although the virus’ behavior remains unpredictable, the UN health agency upheld that “today we are offered a window of opportunity; today we must grab it to make the region and the world safer”.
“China deserves some credit for its handling of the Wuhan pneumonia,” noted foreignpolicy.com in an analysis published on January 14 pointing out that the country’s response to this outbreak has been far better than to SARS, although even more information-sharing is important.
“China’s rapid recognition of this outbreak is particularly remarkable given that it is winter, when influenza and other infections cause many respiratory illnesses that make it difficult to tell whether any particular case of illness is the responsibility of a new respiratory disease. The major clue to this outbreak was that the initial patients had all had recent exposure to a single seafood and live animal market in Wuhan,” said Daniel Lucey and Annie Sparrow in their story.
“Beyond the credit Beijing should rightly take for acting relatively swiftly on this disease, the World Health Organization has also played a key supporting role. The organization posted official updates on its website on January 5, 9, 10, 11, and 12. WHO has also provided detailed guidance on whom to evaluate for infection, on laboratory testing, on infection prevention and control, and on travel,” said the above report.
Chinese medics rush to Wuhan, international support confirmed
Medical supplies and staff medical members are rushing to Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, to provide medical aid. The first group of 147 medical staff of Jiangsu Province left for Wuhan, the center of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, to provide medical aid on January 25. For providing medical aid, an air force unit from Xi’an, capital of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, accepted a mission to transport a team of medical staff to Wuhan on January 24. Also, medical staff members from Guangdong arrived in Wuhan. Besides providing medical aid some of them attended a training session in Wuhan.
But even organizations based worldwide have been engaged in donating medical aid against coronavirus in China. So, the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations (CTCCO) launched a drive Saturday afternoon to raise donations for the Chinese city of Wuhan to prevent cross-infection and curb the spreading of the novel coronavirus-related pneumonia.
CTCCO Chairman Wen Guoning told Xinhua that CTCCO will set up donation boxes at shopping centers in Toronto area Saturday evening. Nearly 50,000 Canadian dollars (about 38,000 U.S. dollars) was raised Saturday afternoon. The donated money will be used to purchase necessary supplies for epidemic prevention, which will be sent to China as soon as possible, he said.
Hospitals in Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak, are calling on public support for protective supplies such as masks and suits, as supplies run low and the number of cases grows daily.
In the meantime the China Development Bank, one of the country’s major policy banks, offered emergency loans worth 2 billion yuan (about 288.3 million U.S. dollars) on January 24 to Wuhan for prevention and control of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
The fund was approved and paid in a fast-track manner, and will be used for medical aid, emergency equipment, disease treatment, epidemic control and other fields in Wuhan, the capital city of central China’s Hubei Province and the center of the 2019-nCoV outbreak. The country’s finance ministry Thursday allocated a total of 1 billion yuan to support Hubei’s battle against 2019-nCoV.
Cautioned alert in Albania
Albania is a ‘low risk’ country in terms of the deadly coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, according to the Minister of Health and Social Protection, Ogerta Manastirliu. Despite this and in line with the World Health Organization recommendations, the Minister has issued an order to take precautionary measures to protect against the virus in the country. She added in her statement on January 23 that according to WHO, scientists are still not sure of how exactly it is transmitted between humans.
“The responsible structures should take measures to implement emergency plans for response to viral infections based on the degree of danger,” said Manastirliu. So, hospitals in the country have increased surveillance of severe, acute respiratory infections in Albania, preparing a case definition, guidelines for surveillance, epidemiological investigation and case management.
In the meantime it is reported that authorities at the only international airport in Albania, Mother Teresa, have started to take measures against any case of people infected with coronavirus. Local media quoted airport healthcare official Lorenc Harshova as saying that authorities are on state of alert. But, as he said, the level of threat faced by this Balkan country is low. He mentioned as one of the main reasons the fact that there is no direct flight from China. In addition, as he said, passengers coming from China are checked by airport staff in other transit countries before coming to Albania.
Among other measures mention is made of a check-up of passengers coming from China as well as more hygienic and sanitation measures at the airport. According to Dr. Hashorva, as quoted by Top Channel TV, they have activated the protocols related to the situation caused by the coronavirus despite the fact that Albania is among the least endangered countries. “The European cities that have direct flights to China and to the Wuhan province are conducting a very intensive passenger monitoring, by even setting up check-up rooms,” he said. / argumentum.al/
© Argumentum.
