No one will be safe until all countries have brought outbreak under control

As of Tuesday, the cumulative number of people infected with the novel coronavirus worldwide was over 40 million, among whom 1.12 million have died, according to the World Health Organization. These are astounding figures on their own, but behind them are the personal losses of the bereaved and the sufferings of those infected and the anguish of their families, as well as the widespread misgivings about the future because of the impacts of the global public health crisis.

It took 44 days for the number of infected to increase from 10 million to 20 million, 37 days to reach 30 million, and just 31 days to pass 40 million, indicating that the virus, instead of just “magically” disappearing, is instead appearing in ever greater force.

Like it or not, as the WHO warns, the fight against the virus has become a protracted war involving all of us.

With the resurgence of the virus in recent days in some European countries including France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, resulting in thousands of infections a day, it is clear that whenever vigilance is relaxed, the virus hits back.

Worse, in countries such as Brazil, India and the United States whose combined number of cases accounts for more than half of the global total, the governments continue to talk about herd immunity.

Before effective vaccines are developed, as Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, urged on Tuesday, the hard-hit countries have no reasons to continue to turn a blind eye to the workable measures that have been explored and tested in countries such as China, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

It is these three East Asian countries’ “followthrough” in the fight against the virus and their populations’ trust in and compliance with the measures implemented by their governments that have given them a leg up in their battles against the virus, Ryan said.

The European countries that are experiencing a second wave of the virus should waste no time in upping their tracing, quarantine and isolation efforts, and the testing and clinical capacity must be maintained at a high level even after the situation eases.

As for the aforementioned three worst-hit countries, the governments must face up to the situation for what it is, and take concrete actions as soon as possible to save lives.

And if the US administration continues to sabotage international solidarity in the fight against the common enemy in a bid to speculate on the public health crisis for its own narrow political ends, who knows what figure the 40 million will be a prelude to.

Before the virus’ withdrawal from its last foothold, no country will be safe.