As more and more countries are reporting cases of people affected by the new coronavirus, international health officials and medical community are scrambling to contain the outbreak and stop the virus from spreading further.
Qatar has also taken precautionary measures and Ministry of Public Health is continuously monitoring the situation. The National Committee for Epidemic Preparation in the Ministry already held a meeting, which was attended by various stakeholders including Hamad Medical Corporation, Primary Health Care Corporation, Hamad International Airport and Qatar Airways.
As responsible residents, every one of us must be on alert and report to relevant authorities if we notice any of the symptoms that matches World Health Organisation’s definition including high temperature, coughing and breathing difficulties.
The new virus was first spotted in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and has till now claimed 18 lives worldwide and has infected nearly 650 people globally. Many precautionary steps are put into place like thermal screening at many international airports and China has locked down three cities including Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, Huanggang and Ezhou.
The virus, which spread from animals to humans in Wuhan from an illegal wildlife market, is not known previously to researchers and doctors are not sure how easily it transfers from human to human nor they know how dangerous this strain is.
Like the Ministry advised in their communication yesterday, it is better to avoid travel to places where these outbreaks are reported in China, avoid close contact with animals in the affected areas and not to mix closely with people who show symptoms of respiratory infections, while continuing to wash hands with soap and water.
According to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations three research teams are already working on developing a potential vaccine and is expected to have a working solution in a few months’ time.
The world bodies have responded early to the outbreak and are wiser from their experience of containing the dangerous SARS few years back. Qatari authorities also swung into action very quickly and has issued national guidelines for dealing with new cases.
The precautionary measures are in place, processes to deal with new cases are clearly explained and with proper monitoring and creating awareness among travellers the new coronavirus will certainly be contained, we just need to listen and follow what the professionals and experts are advising us to do.
