The coronavirus that broke out in Wuhan, China, has at today, killed 80 people and more than 2,700 cases have been confirmed in mainland China, as the virus continues to spread throughout Asia and the rest of the world. Already, there are more than 50 cases confirmed around the world (outside China) , in the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, Thailand, France, Australia, and more.
Coronavirus is a killing and contagious virus in which Africa couldn’t have a shoulder to carry the risk. According to data, this epidemic virus doesn’t arrive in any of African countries as yet. It's really imperative for every country in Africa especially those which has flight destination to China (Ethiopian Airlines has 5 times per week) to get the higher alert and explain the nature of the virus. Note that, Ethiopian Airlines is the leading airline in Africa, linking the continent and China. It's important to widely spread the information about the novel coronavirus so the society can understand and respond to the doctors’ advice much better and the risk can be controlled or at least minimized.
The following are some of the things that have to be effective immediately in Africa:
- Flights to and from China has to be terminated temporarily for the sake of the society,
- Virus detecting machines have to be installed in case there are transit passengers,
- Prepare medical personnel and cortile in the airport for this purpose in case there is a sign of symptoms on any passenger,
- Medical mask (surgical mask or N95 respirator mask) has to be furnished with the correct usage information to the airport employees as the medical mask is an integral part of essential personal protection paraphernalia against epidemic and helpful for preventing the infection of this contagious virus,
- Those who came from China, especially Wuhan (Hubei province) after the outbreak began; have to be quarantined for 14 days before departing the airport, and including some other precautions that I didn't mention.
Update about the virus:
The novel coronavirus that broke out in Hubei province, Wuhan city, mainland China, has at today (03/02/2020), killed 361 people, recovered: 494, confirmed cases: 17,335 and suspected cases: 21,558 have been confirmed in mainland China, as the virus continues to spread throughout Asia and the rest of the world.
Another important factor that African health care providers need to consider is the nosocomial transmission of the virus. Their hospitals have to be prepared for this. the majority of patients with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV had become infected in health care settings. This will probably be the case for 2019n-CoV as well.
You may find further information here:
Article The Novel Coronavirus: A Bird’s Eye View
Unfortunately, African countries were unprepared to prevent the COVID-19 spread to their countries. To date, there had been confirmations of the virus in Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, and Senegal. Screening and quarantining of international travellers at all entry points should have been done from the first day of the outbreak in China, given the experience garnerred during the Ebola outbreak.