The word “lockdown” has become one of the most familiar terms during the new coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. Lockdown is an emergency ruling that prohibits people from departing and entering an area aimed at preventing the spread of the disease.

Several countries with the highest death rates of Covid-19 have imposed lockdown. The following is an analysis of what is happening to these countries during the lockdowns and ensuing isolation.

China

On January 23, China decided to isolate the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province because it was the epicenter of the outbreak. Public transport was closed and residents could not leave the region. Even China’s President Xi Jinping visited Hubei earlier this month.

Millions of people were instructed to stay at home unless they had to buy food or seek medical treatment. The local authority also closed offices, schools, and factories. Other cities in Hubei Province also followed suit.

China’s massive lockdown also relied on mass surveillance technology to restrict people’s movement. A Sichuan province-based restaurant owner, who had traveled to Hubei, said the police arrived at his house and told him to quarantine himself, as BBC reported.

China’s lockdown is not without controversy. In one case, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that a teen with cerebral palsy died when his dad and brother were in a quarantine center. 

If there are no new cases in the next 14 days, China’s lockdown status will be lifted. While the number of coronavirus cases has supposedly been on the decline in China, several countries in Europe have seen a major surge in their Covid-19 death toll.

Italy

The COVID-19-related death toll in Italy has surpassed that in China. As of March 20, a shocking 3,405 people had died in Italy due to the new Coronavirus infection, with more than 41,000 positive cases.

After the lockdown was imposed on March 8, fewer people were seen in public places in Italy. If they have to leave home, Italians are required to show a certification informing local authorities about why they have to go out. Security officials have been deployed at supermarkets in the Tuscany region to make sure that people buy stuff based on minimum requirements.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said all bars, restaurants, schools, beauty parlors, and non-essential office divisions should be temporarily shut down. Food delivery is still allowed.

The prime minister added that at least 16 million in Lombardy and 14 other provinces are required to get a special permit to travel in a quarantine regulation. The country’s top-tier soccer competition Serie A and other sport events have also been postponed until April 3 due to the pandemic.

France

France locked down its territory on March 14 after the number of coronavirus cases in the country hit 5,000. The country’s Prime Minister Edouard Philippe ordered the closure of cafes, restaurants, and cinemas as well as nightclubs and tourist spots such as the Eiffel Tower.

“I have decided to close all non-essential locations, notably cafés, restaurants, cinemas, nightclubs and shops. We must absolutely limit our movements,” Philippe said.

Grocery stores, drugstores, and petrol stations will remain open during the lockdown, the prime minister added. France has slapped a more robust measure by deploying 100,000 police officers to ensure the enforcement of lockdown procedures. The outbreak has forced the government to postpone local elections supposed to be held on Sunday, March 22.

As of March 21, France has recorded 450 deaths and 12,612 Covid-19 positive cases. The country’s public health agency stated that the government could extend the two-week confinement to contain the pandemic.

Spain

Spain also isolated its area on the same day as France. The order only allows Spaniards to leave homes to buy medicine, get medical treatment, purchase food, and other emergency reasons.

As of March 17, most of Spain’s Covid-19 positive cases were in the capital of Madrid, fully 43 percent. The wife of Spain’s Prime Minister hass also tested positive for the New Coronavirus.

Spain came third below Italy as one of the countries with the highest death rates due to coronavirus. As of March 21, the death toll has reached 1,326.

All hotels and accommodation have been closed temporarily. However, Ayre Grand Hotel in Madrid turned into an emergency hospital for Covid-19 patients by providing 60,000 beds and equipping its rooms with medical devices.

Malaysia

On March 18, Malaysia implemented lockdown measures which will end in two weeks. The government banned all mass gatherings, including religious, sports, and political activities.

The lockdown decision triggered panic buying. Ahead of the confinement, Malaysians stormed grocery stores to buy their daily needs.

As of March 21, Malaysia has recorded four deaths and 1,183 Covid-19 cases. Kuala Lumpur has also deployed troops to enforce its lockdown regulation.

Other Nations Which Have Also Imposed a Lockdown

Ireland, Poland, Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, and Argentina are among other countries that have also ordered their citizens to quarantine themselves. One of the world’s busiest and biggest cities — New York — also started a lockdown following the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases.

Dubbed as “the city that never sleeps”, Covid-19 has turned New York into a ghost town. Bars, restaurants, stores have been closed. New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer predicted that restaurant sales would drastically drop by 80 percent, and retail and property sales would plunge by 20 percent, as BBC reported.

Countries That Oped Not to Impose a Lockdown

Despite not imposing a nationwide lockdown, South Korea’s effort to lower the number of Covid-19 infections has drawn worldwide appreciation. South Korea is among the countries with with the highest numbers of coronavirus cases. As of March 21, there have been 102 deaths and 8,799 recorded cases.

South Korea’s success story cannot be separated from its government’s ability to set up numerous laboratories with test kits, which are easily spotted everywhere, so people can have their health checked.

Indeed, South Korea has managed to test 10,000 people a day. Also, the government has enabled a GPS-based app to track people under quarantine and set off an alarm if they try to go outdoors, as Aljazeera reported.

L'articolo Lockdown: Definition, Countries and the Consequences proviene da InsideOver.

Novel coronavirus deaths outside China are now higher than those inside China, and countries around the world are mobilizing to prevent and prepare for the worst. As of this writing 3,200 deaths from coronavirus have been officially recorded as opposed to 3,400 outside of China. As France24 recently reported, the nations of South America are circling the wagons and shutting down borders to combat coronavirus.

South and Central American nations already have numerous recorded cases and Guatemala had its first coronavirus death on March 15. In total, 17 Latin American nations now have recorded cases of coronavirus. With less agile and hardy health systems, South America and Central America are taking steps to minimize risk by closing borders.

South and Central America Border Closures

Entry to Argentina is prohibited to foreigners for the next 15 days — extended to 30 days for foreigners who have been to a nation significantly impacted by coronavirus in the past two weeks. Argentina has also stopped approving visas for foreigners who apply. Peru has frozen all air and maritime transport and requested Peruvians to self-quarantine for the next 15 days. Elsewhere in South America, Colombia — with 34 cases currently listed — has shut down borders to non-residents and foreigners and closed all schools and universities starting March 16. Colombia also now prohibits cruise ships from docking and is shutting down its border with Venezuela.

Panama has closed its borders to foreigners and non-residents. Panama is the worst hit nation in South or Central America thus far, with 55 confirmed cases as of March 14 and everything in the country has been ordered closed except grocery stores, pharmacies, hospitals and medical clinics. Honduras — whose healthcare system is already in disarray as the nation suffers from widespread corruption, gang violence and poverty — has set limits on how many people may congregate in public and has closed all land borders for the next seven days except for trade. President Juan Hernandez of Honduras has also closed most businesses and services in the country except for essentials like petrol stations and grocery stores. Costa Rica, which is currently announcing 35 coronavirus cases is also taking measures to limit public gatherings and shut down non-essential daily activities.

Further north in North America, Mexico is also struggling with coronavirus, with 41 cases as of this writing. Mexico’s left-wing leader López Obrador (“Amlo”) has apparently decided to revamp Oprah’s Book Club with Obrador’s Book Club, and told Mexicans to read Love in the Time of Cholera by the celebrated late Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Obrador says that the book will help them get through the tough times and bring “calm.” Obrador has appeared numerous times in public hugging and kissing supporters and has not taken as dramatic measures as other nations including the US so far in response to the coronavirus.

Venezuela’s Uniquely Terrible Healthcare Situation

Brazilian President Bolsonaro Tests Negative for Coronavirus

Meanwhile Latin America’s largest economy of Brazil is also taking measures against coronavirus. The nation has 200 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 1,913 suspected cases as of this writing. The majority of cases are in Brazil’s largest state of São Paulo, which is home to the nation’s largest city of São Paulo whose population exceeds 10.6 million. So far Brazil has closed down most schools and public events in order to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, although critics say more must be done and characterize the government as reckless and incompetent in its response.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro recently tested negative for coronavirus. He took the test after his communications secretary Fabio Wajngarten tested positive for the virus. Brazil’s acting Charge d’Affaires Nestor Forster and Bolsonaro’s lawyer Karina Kufa also tested positive for the virus and were — along with Wajngarten — part of a group that met at length with US President Donald Trump and other leading government officials on March 7 at Trump’s Mar-a-lago estate in Florida.

L'articolo Latin America Shuts Borders to Foreigners in Response to Coronavirus proviene da InsideOver.

In early February, a mysterious disease hit Nigeria with symptoms varying from vomiting to diarrhea. The unknown illness killed 15, and a senator in the country claimed that numerous people were infected within 48 hours, as the Independent reported.

“By February 3, “the number of persons affected with the strange endemic has risen to 104,” said Senator Abba Moro.

Nigeria’s Health Minister, Osagie Ehanire, said last Friday that the disease is neither Ebola nor Lassa, but is caused by viruses that potentially cause a lethal outbreak and once occurred in West Africa.

WHO extends an emergency status for Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The ongoing Ebola outbreak still poses a threat in Africa as the World Health Organization (WHO) prolonged an emergency status for the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after the most recent outbreak in August 2018. Since then, the illness has claimed over 2,300 lives in eastern DR Congo-which is prone to an insurgency from militia groups operating there.

Ebola was first discovered in Africa in 1976. The virus lives initially in an animal’s body and then infects humans through an animal’s contaminated blood. Also, the virus causes symptoms such as fever, headache, and appetite loss.

“Since the year 2000, one or two outbreaks of Ebola were identified every year in Africa. One hypothesis is that close contact with bats or bat caves, hunting and eating bush meat may all cause human infections. Once human infection occurs person to person transmission is common if close contact occurs between patient and unprotected people,” Professor Eyal Leshem, Director of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Diseases at Sheba Medical Center, told InsideOver in an email interview.

Leshem added that the geopolitical situation has halted the handling of the Ebola outbreak, hoping that a quarantine and a travel restriction on affected areas can help curbing the Ebola epidemic.

Containment of the current Ebola virus outbreak is especially challenging due to the geopolitical and socio-demographic conditions in DRC – Uganda border region which is the epicenter. While the epidemic curve peaked nearly eight months ago, multiple cases are continuously diagnosed in affected regions and local conflict hampers containment efforts. Hopefully travel restrictions and quarantine imposed on affected areas along with international and local government efforts will be successful in stopping and preventing spread to other African countries.

Both Outbreaks Occurred Amid the New Coronavirus Pandemic

The mystery illness and Ebola epidemic both occurred amid the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which has infected more than 20 countries so far. On Saturday, February 15, Africa reported its first case of coronavirus infection in Egypt.

Egypt’s Health Ministry revealed that a foreigner was the first patient of COVID-19 in the country. The patient was already put in an isolation room as the authority reported to the WHO.

COVID-19 has killed more than 1,500, primarily in China, and infected more than 60,000 globally. The WHO also announced the outbreak an international emergency and is still unsure when the epidemic will end.

The symptoms of COVID-19, which was believed to start in a seafood market in Wuhan China, are fever, runny nose, cough, and can lead to breathing difficulty, almost similar to those of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which claimed nearly 800 lives worldwide in 2002-2003.

Coronavirus Spreads Quickly and Can be Deadly

Some experts claimed that the SARS mortality rate is much higher than that of COVID-19. However, COVID-19 spreads more quickly as it had killed more than 500 in month while it took four months for SARS to sicken 1,000.

“Viral spread is a combination of mechanism of transmission – in the case of COVID – 19 by droplets and close contact with symptomatic patients and patient secretions most probably and of the infective load needed to infect a person,” Leshem explained when asked about the quick widespread of the virus.

Africa Has Admitted it is Not Ready to Deal With Coronavirus

The WHO disclosed Africa’s vulnerability to the COVID-19 due to its inadequate health care facilities. The Geneva-based institution has sent kits to 29 laboratories on the continent, aimed at making sure that those laboratories can test reagents shipped from China and Europe, as BBC reported.

“We know how fragile the health system is on the African continent and these systems are already overwhelmed by many ongoing disease outbreaks, so for us it is critical to detect earlier so that we can prevent the spread,” Michael Yao, WHO’s head of emergency operations in Africa, told BBC.

Zambia is one of the countries in Africa that the WHO is monitoring closely due to its frequent business trips to China. One of the Chinese companies operating in Zambia is based in Wuhan, where the COVID-19 infection started. Hundreds of workers have traveled from and to China and Zambia in the past few weeks alone.

“Some countries in Africa are suffering from limited public health resources and underfunded healthcare systems. Sustained transmission of COVID 19 in one of the large cities of Africa such as Lagos, or Kinshasa may result tens of thousands of infections and thousands of deaths due to lack of resources to contain the outbreak and treat high number of patients,” Leshem explained. “The World Health Organization is supporting local governments in Africa to prepare for COVID 19 introduction and donor countries should provide emergency funding. Global health security is being discussed for years, and preparedness funding is in place, so hopefully, activities to scale up surveillance are underway in Africa as in other continents,” he added.

L'articolo Multiple Outbreaks Hit Africa Besides New Coronavirus proviene da InsideOver.