Coronavirus Scare: Why Awareness is Need of the Hour, Not Panic

The number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus or COVID-19 reached 29 in India, with Paytm employees from Gurugram testing positive. Efforts to contain the deadly virus appear to have failed, with the number of people getting infected with the virus globally reached over 90,000.

Health officials in the country as well as abroad are preparing to deal with the mushrooming of cases.

Yale professor Howard Forman said more and more number of cases being detected now is only common. This means that the existing cases are being diagnosed and should not be a “cause for panic”. The better tests are developed by medical personnel, the more number of cases will get confirmed.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the government hospitals were being readied to handle the impending number of cases. Speaking to Times of India, he said isolation wards were being set up in 25 hospitals that includes 19 government-run ones and 6 private institutions.

To keep the stock of masks intact, 3.5 lakh N95 masks have been arranged and more than 8,000 separation kits for staff treating COVID-19 infected patients have been prepared, he added.

According to The Guardian, although the spread of the virus outside China is worrying, it is not an “unexpected development”. More than who gets infected, it is crucial to see, who get completely beaten by the virus and end up in hospitals. Over 3,000 deaths have been reported globally, but more than 53, 000 have also recovered from the disease.

Experts have said the coronavirus appears to be affecting older people the hardest, followed by children. So adequate preventive measures and good care is enough to deal with the new viral phenomenon.