Battling coronavirus

The new coronavirus (2019nCoV) is no longer solely China’s headache. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the outbreak a global health emergency, even as the death toll in China has crossed 200 and the number of confirmed cases has risen to around 10,000. More than 120 positive cases have surfaced in the rest of the world, including India, other Asian nations and some western countries. As per China’s estimates, barely 2 per cent of the infected people have died. This figure suggests that the virus may be less deadly than the coronaviruses that caused the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-03. SARS had claimed about 800 lives, mostly in China and Hong Kong, and left the global economy poorer by around $33 billion.

With China now a major player on the economic front, India and other countries would have to find ways to minimise the impact of disruption of the supply chains. While appreciating China’s outbreak response, the WHO has expressed concern that the virus could spread to countries with weaker health systems that are ill-prepared to deal with it.

The epidemic could expose the vulnerability of India’s overstretched healthcare setup. It’s vital for the world’s two most populous countries to work in tandem. Indian officials should remain in constant touch with their Chinese counterparts, who have promised cooperation in jointly strengthening epidemic prevention and control. A level-headed approach is required to tackle the situation. Pressing the panic button would only make things worse, as was witnessed in the case of the 1994 Surat plague when lakhs of scared people had fled the Gujarat city. The Indian authorities need to counter misinformation and fake news with an aggressive awareness campaign. The services of experts at the New Delhi-based South-East Asia regional office of the WHO can be availed to streamline governmental efforts. The Central and state governments might disagree on a host of issues, but they ought to be on the same page when it comes to safeguarding public health. Centre-state coordination can be of immense help to overcome the coronavirus challenge.