Wuhan Coronavirus | India Sets Up Round The Clock Helpline as 80 Dies in China

Wuhan Coronavirus | Civil Aviation Ministry Alerts Airports in India as 10 Dies in China
Coronavirus is a strange virus and is considered a cousin of the SARS virus.

China is in the news for an unfortunate reason; the spread of a mysterious Coronavirus in the most populous city in central China, Wuhan has created havoc all over the world. The deadly virus has so far infected more than 500 people and claimed the life of at least ten people. Concerned Chinese authorities are racing against time to stop the new virus from spreading. As per the report, the infection of this dangerous virus is transferable.

The Indian government has set up a round-the-clock helpline to attend to queries about coronavirus (nCoV) infection.

The Union ministry of health has tweeted, “If you seek any help, you may call to know details about District and State surveillance officers, and in case any clinical query connect with Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) Officer.”

Anyone seeking information can call on the number 011-23978046.

The call centre will direct suspected cases to experts in their area and will also monitor details of passengers provided by the ministry of external affairs.

The ministry has also issued an appeal to those who have travelled to China since January 1, 2020, to “come forward for self-reporting to the call centre, the nearest health facility” if they experience any symptoms such as fever, cough, respiratory distress, etc. and also inform their treating doctor.

Here are some essentials about the outbreak of mysterious Coronavirus you need to know to take care of yourself if you have suspicious symptoms.

Spread from animals to humans – The strange virus is considered a cousin of the SARS virus. Leo Poon, a virologist at the School of Public Health at The University of Hong Kong, first decoded it and he believes that Coronavirus was first imparted in an animal. Then it later spread to human beings.

No response to antibiotic – Leo Poon said, “What we know is it causes pneumonia and then doesn’t respond to antibiotic treatment, which is not surprising, but then in terms of mortality, SARS kills 10% of the individuals”. It’s not clear how deadly the Wuhan Coronavirus will be.

In light of the outbreak and the little known details about the nature of the virus and the treatment concerned, it would do good to avoid crowded places and gatherings for now.

Meanwhile, Chinese officials have taken a precautionary measure and advised people not to travel into and out of the city of Wuhan due to the virus outbreak. The 8.9 million people in the city of Wuhan are locked-down in a quarantine. There is a great demand for facemasks in China, and it is already going out of stock in the country. Officials at airports and train stations are busy checking infected passengers.

The Chinese officials have banned the trade of live poultry and wild animals in Wuhan. Police have beefed up their checking to make sure that the ban has been implemented. “The disease originated from a market which conducted illegal transaction of wild animals,” said Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Spreading globally

The life-threatening virus from Wuhan has been gradually spreading in several other Chinese provinces as well as the US, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan. The Chinese government is passing through a very critical stage on how to overcome this virus. As per the report, at least 15 medical workers in Wuhan, who were helping the infected patients, unfortunately, have been infected. The World Health Organisation has also warned hospitals around the world to be prepared to meet this emergency if the infection spreads as fear looms large globally.

What is India doing to face this outbreak of Coronavirus?

Seeing the dangerous impact of Coronavirus, the Civil Aviation Ministry has informed the officials across major airports to install equipment and make an arrangement for proper screening and checking of people who are arriving from China so that infected people from Coronavirus can be detected.

Coronavirus not serious like SARS

Zhong Nanshan, an expert with China’s National Health Commission who is investigating the Wuhan virus, has claimed that while it is not as serious as SARS, the number of people with the disease was “climbing” and suggested that the “death rate at the moment is not so representative”.

Here are the other dangerous virus outbreaks:

SARS

The SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) penetrated in Asia in 2002, and 2003 had infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774. During the outbreak of SARS, Chinese officials decided to censor the coverage so that people can’t realise its severity. At the same time, the experts were taking all the precautionary measures to smother its spread.

Ebola

Ebola was also a life-threatening virus it was recognised with the symptoms like fever, body aches, and diarrhoea, occasional bleeding inside and outside the body. This virus attacks the immune system and organs, which led to blood-clotting cells to drop. Hence, uncontrollable bleeding occurred in infected people. Ebola virus has primarily occurred on the African continent.

Coronavirus is a dangerous virus, and infected people should be stopped from travelling to other countries because it is a transmittable disease. An infected person can be threatening for others too. So governments of all countries should be careful and monitor the situation carefully and keep their nations safe from the effect of Coronavirus.