A journalist goes undercover at wet markets where the Coronavirus started
60 Minutes Australia
Coronavirus estimates about the disaster that is getting more threatening every day. It can be more lethal than terrorism. According to Professor Gabriel Leung, who led the fight against the SARS virus, it can affect more than 60% of the world population, and 45 million of us might be killed by it.
Time is not far away when the Australian streets will be under strict observation and screening as well. As none of the countries so far is entirely successful in containment. Alone in the HK, 7 million people are affected by the Corona Virus in some way. Hongkong’s busiest markets are shut down. Shopping malls, Amusement parks are deserted. People are requested to stay at home, avoiding unnecessary outdoor visits. Restaurants are taking mandatory temperature checks for all the customers since the outbreak emerged across the border in China.
But the people are acting discipline and under control, as they have already lived through a deadly disease of SARS. This might only be the start, but people only come out in masks already, almost all public places are empty for fear of infection in other parts of the world as well. Business and economic markets are in a panic. This may seem extreme, but this is a new norm, and this calls for strict infection control. This might sound frightening, but a little bit of anxiety will give you extra motivation to take precautions.
According to Gabriel Leung, Coronavirus is hard to control as it is far more infective than SARS. It spreads more quickly than it. That’s growth rate becomes exponential if left unchecked like in China and South Korea. He also suspected the actual number of cases could be far more than the reported.
As actual figures could affect the Chinese economy severely with the controlled press, the Chinese Government is accused of massive coverup, which includes the detaining of the whistleblower doctor who was later died in China. As China is already putting pressure on the World Health Organisation for not declaring the Coronavirus outbreak pandemic, avoid panic among the people.
Coronavirus has already struck more than a hundred countries. And the professor’s predictions are frightening. With the current mortality rate, considering his estimation, around 45 million of us can lose our lives only in the first wave of the virus. We have to prepare for the possibility of the second wave.
Many experts believe that Coronavirus originated in the colony of bats during the probably during the handling process in Wuhan, China, or through the most trafficked wild animals in the world, Pangolin, who is high on the menu these days. The virus crossed the species barrier infecting humans via these wet markets present all over Asia, mostly in China. Thailand Indonesia, Lao, Cambodia, Burma also reported having active wild animal trading markets.
China already closed over 20,000 wet markets, but wildlife markets are still operating across Asia. And their Government ensured the closure of these markets, but an undercover operation in Bangkok revealed that the business is still active. They might have discovered a similar place where the first Coronavirus was transferred to humans from the animal. It was exposed that the Thailand authorities are not taking the threat of Coronavirus seriously.
All kinds of smuggled wild animals are reported being traded at this market, spreading diseases like AIDS, SARS, and now a pandemic disease of Coronavirus. All the wild animals were extracted from their natural habitats brought here, traveling thousands of kilometers and probably already visited by hundreds of customers in one day. The next global pandemic can quickly emerge in one of these cages as dozens of species are kept together in small cages, animals that are not found together in their natural habitats.
These animals are not immune to viruses found in each other, so these viruses can also be passed to humans who handle them. To avoid the next global pandemic, we might have to shut down all the wildlife animal markets across the world. Our response to the source of this deadly virus must be equally global as our response to coronavirus disaster is global. Otherwise, it can expand or reemerge as a new and more deadly mother nature revenge.
In case you’re infected, your friends, family, colleagues might have already infected before you even show up symptoms of Coronavirus. But your life mainly depends upon your age, and how the authorities handle your situation. According to Professor Gabriel, people over 65 are 20 times more likely to die from Coronavirus as compared to people under 65, so the outbreak of the virus in any nursing Home could be ominous.
As it is already observed in other countries that the speed of Coronavirus is exponential, cases are already being discovered in Australia. Now is the right time to put about everything we have to fight the virus. By utilizing all our resources quickly and efficiently, we might be able to buy sufficient time to develop a cure for it if you are extremely lucky.
According to Director of intensive care at Royal Melbourne Hospital, Chris MacIsaac, the staff is at the highest alert recorded in modern history. Similar to other hospitals, his hospital’s is equipped with a pandemic mode, which was never used before. And he is pretty confident about his and is staff preparation to fight the Coronavirus, they are already preparing an emergency pandemic response to cope with the attack of the virus, and it’s ready to go.
Australia’s number of confirmed deaths is only three among the 80 confirmed infected cases, but Professor Leung suspects there maybe doesn’t or hundreds of cases yet to be revealed. As for every death, 80 to 100 confirmed cases are expected to be detected, three deaths among 80 conclude that either test is not being conducted effectively or extensively enough.
According to Gabriel Leung, the Australian health system might get dangerously overloaded, but it is among the most prepared countries in the world. But a large number of cases can discriminate the patients, people who can afford excellent treatment are more likely to survive.
