Coronavirus: Can the world deal with it?
Let’s get the facts straight about what can and cannot be done
On Tuesday, February 18, no coronavirus cases had been reported in Iran. On Sunday, the government announced multiple cases and several deaths. Some 152 cases (and at least three deaths) were confirmed in Italy on Sunday, up from three cases on Thursday. The number of infected people in South Korea jumped to 763 (and six deaths) in just days.
Covid-19 has been detected in at least 29 countries. In nations with few or no reported cases so far, particularly in South America and Africa, the absence of evidence shouldn’t be interpreted as evidence of absence. More likely, it reflects lack of testing.
Is the Covid-19 outbreak now a pandemic, whether or not the World Health Organisation calls it that yet? If so, what’s next?
First, let’s get the facts straight about what can and cannot be done.
It’s now clear that the epidemic was never going to be contained. At most, its spread was slowed by the lockdown imposed in China and other countries’ efforts to identify infected people and anyone they might have been in contact with.
Covid-19 seems to spread like influenza, through the air, person to person. Unlike Ebola, Sars and Mers, individuals can transmit this coronavirus before the onset of symptoms or even if they don’t become ill. An infected person appears to spread the disease to an average of 2.6 people.
After 10 generations of transmission, with each taking about five or six days, that one initial case has spawned more than 3,500, most with no or mild symptoms, yet probably infectious. The fact that mild cases are difficult to differentiate from colds or the flu only complicates the diagnosis.
Limited benefits of lockdown
Vaccines are many months away, at the earliest. And based on previous experiences with Sars, Mers and pandemic influenza, there is no reason to believe — as US President Donald Trump claimed — that Covid-19 will go away this spring as warmer weather arrives in the Northern Hemisphere. Transmission around the world could continue for months.
The lockdown imposed by the Chinese government reduced the number of new cases for a time. But even that has limited benefits. As China tries to return to work, public transportation resumes and citizens start moving about, there will likely be a major rebound in cases. Unless an entire population shelters in place for many months, infectious agents like influenza or this coronavirus will find people to infect.
In other words, a lockdown is mostly a delaying tactic. By distributing cases over time, it can help manage an outbreak — but only if it takes place against the backdrop of a robust health care system.
In a world ill-prepared for a potentially life-threatening, easily transmitted disease, the most effective way to mitigate the pandemic’s impact is to focus on supporting health care systems that are overburdened. This is partly to ensure that hospitals themselves do not become sites where the coronavirus is spread more than it is contained.
Governments should also conduct Covid-19 preparedness drills in local hospitals and expand hospitals’ temporary capacity.
The manufacturing and distribution chains for drugs and other vital products like needles and syringes must remain open, and that, given the global nature of the industry, requires international cooperation. In keeping with World Health Organisation guidelines, coronavirus-stricken countries shouldn’t be walled off the way that the United States and others are now trying to do with China. Otherwise, as the virus spreads, we will be isolating ourselves, too, and will jeopardise our ability to obtain critical resources. Many of the active ingredients in life-saving generic drugs come from China and India. If that production is brought to a standstill, many could die, not directly from Covid-19, but indirectly from a lack of access to those drugs.
Ensuring all of this means facing the hard facts of this unfolding pandemic. Past experiences, with the anthrax-laced letters in 2001 and the 2014 Ebola outbreak, suggest that people react more rationally and show greater resilience to a full-blown crisis if they are prepared intellectually and emotionally for it.
And what should each of us do, beyond staying informed and washing our hands frequently? Keep calm and rational. It might be worth stocking some reserve of critical medications — but not too much, because hoarding could create shortages. We, as individuals, can also try to plan for basic contingencies. Companies can crosstrain key staff members so that one person’s absence won’t derail the business. Family members and friends should be watchful of one another’s health and welfare, and stand prepared to care for the moderately ill if hospitals become overtaxed. “Pandemic” isn’t just a technical public health term. It also is — or should be — a rallying cry.