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Coronavirus Spreading Quickly Across the Globe
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Health Officials Around the World Struggle to Contain COVID- 19 Coronavirus Spreading Quickly Across the Globe
People buy face masks at a retail store in the southeastern city of Daegu on February ,25 2020. (Getty)
by Ali El Shamy
What started out as a small outbreak in Wuhan, China has spread to other parts of the world. The rapid spread of the COVID19-, more commonly known as corona, virus has forced the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a global health emergency last month, so far the worst-hit countries other than China are South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Italy.
THE CORONAVIRUS HITS ITALY HARD Thus far, European health ministries have done a good job of containing the virus, however, the spread that has been happening in Italy is a cause for concern. It was almost three weeks ago when European health ministers from the EU27- met to discuss the coronavirus and in the aftermath of the summit German Health Minister Jens Spahn warned that “It could get worse before it gets better, because as long as it’s not under control in China, these regional epidemics can transform into a worldwide pandemic.” Italy is the worst affected country in Europe, as of the writing of this piece, there have been 219 reported cases of coronavirus infection and seven deaths resulting from the disease. The overwhelming majority of cases have been in the northern provinces of Lombardy and Veneto, however, the first recorded case in the country was in fact in its capital Rome. In response to this crisis, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has decided to quarantine twelve towns in both provinces barring anyone from traveling to and from them. Conte has further stated that such measures might last for weeks. People residing in said towns have been queueing up in supermarkets, stocking food and provisions in fear of what comes ahead. A massive health crisis might be brewing in Europe, nevertheless, this has not persuaded the European Commission to consider closing borders between states and restricting free movement. On the contrary, EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides seemed to be calm amid the commotion as she noted that the UN’s WHO has not advised travel restrictions in Europe. She further stated any travel restrictions should be «proportionate and coordinated» among EU states. Just this week, Austria halted a train traveling through the Brenner Pass which is situated between
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the borders of it and Italy after two passengers seemed to display coronavirus like symptoms, but the train resumed again after the passengers tested negative for COVID19-. Some events happening in Italy have been canceled as a result of the outbreak. After two cases were confirmed in Venice, the last two days of the famous Venice Carnival were called off. Milan’s Fashion Week was affected as Giorgio Armani’s presentation was held behind closed doors and people could only see it via an internet live stream. Although the Serie A football league will carry on as usual some games will be played behind closed doors, among those games is the anticipated derby between Inter Milan and Juventus.
OUTBREAK IN SOUTH KOREA BRINGS RELIGIOUS SECT UNDER SCRUTINY
Despite its close proximity to China, up until recently, South Korean authorities were effectively preventing a coronavirus outbreak. However, this is not the case anymore as within one week the fewer than a dozen confirmed cases grew to 977, additionally ten people tragically lost their lives. Most evidence indicates that the city of Deagu might have been the epicenter of the outbreak. The BBC also reports that South Korean authorities believe that the Shincheonji Church based in the city might have unintentionally helped spread the virus, Business Insider further reports that around 60 percent of the confirmed cases are members of the Church. Authorities also believe that a -61yearold member of the Church might have been one of the first infected with the coronavirus which would only spread broadly across the sect. Despite the secretive nature of the Church, it’s leader Lee Man-hee agreed to hand over a list of names of its 200,000 members to health authorities which are now conducting extensive testing on all members of the Church. Many members of Korean society already have a negative view of the Church, and
42 28/02/20 A man, wearing a respiratory mask, walks in the streets on in2020 ,25February Milan, Italy. Getty
A guest wearing a respiratory mask waits for the start of the Dolce & Gabbana›s Women Fall - Winter 2020 fashion collection on February 23, 2020 in Milan. - Milan Fashion Week was overshadowed by the coronavirus outbreak. Getty
this incident might increase hostile sentiments towards it.
JAPAN TAKES CAUTIONED APPROACH TOWARDS DIAMOND PRINCESS SHIP
Japan is another badly hit country as it has 156 confirmed cases and one death. Bizarrely, the Diamond Princess cruise ship has more cases of the virus than the country itself with 691 of those of the ship have been confirmed to have the virus and four others have passed away. In operation since 2004, the ship has been taking tourists on cruises around Asia and Australia. When the virus spread within the ship, Japanese authorities decided to keep the ship at one of its docks and quarantine its passengers. The move has been criticized by some observers who note that the cruise ship did not have facilities to quarantine and treat patients. Japanese health authorities acknowledged that the operation was not ideal, but stated that it was the best that they could do since it was not feasible to move the 3,900 passengers to other locations for quarantine. Furthermore, a thousand of the passengers have been set to leave the cruise ship after almost two weeks of quarantine. IRANIAN HEALTH OFFICIALS NOT IMMUNE TO DISEASE
Iran has been the hub for coronavirus in the Middle East. As of the writing of this piece, there have been 95 cases and 16 reported deaths. The first confirmed death from the coronavirus was in the city of Qom, and since then authorities have been implementing tight measures to curtail the spread of the virus. The Guardian reports that in Tehran and 13 other provinces schools, universities, cinemas, and theaters have been closed, moreover public buses in the capital have been disinfected. To protect their citizens from the virus, the governments of both Turkey and Pakistan have decided to close their borders with Iran. In an ironic affliction, the Iranian Deputy Health Minister, Feverish Iraj Harirchi, has been tested positive for coronavirus. In a video he posted to social media he stated that he is now isolating himself and taking medication for the disease, he also somberly said that disease ‘doesn’t distinguish between statesman and ordinary citizen’. He nevertheless, ended the video on a more optimistic note that the country would defeat the virus.
Youthful Memories and the Harsh Reality of Life Abroad
When I think back to when I began working with Majalla 33 years ago, I remember the hardships I faced while settling in and adjusting to life in London. As a young man, I never thought that I would end up spending most of my life in this city. In a way, Majalla served as my companion during the first few years of life in an alien city away from home where I didn’t have a shoulder to lean on or enough knowledge of the English language to manage my daily errands and communicate with others, particularly coming from a francophone country. So I couldn’t help but bring all my burdens with me to work, but working at the Majalla office every day made life abroad easier. The office became a surrogate homeland. I believe the most valuable thing I have learned from this “nationhood” is that the Arab World’s ambition to strengthen ties among each other was, to a great extent, was accomplished through our daily interactions with each other whether in Majalla or its sister publication the pan Arab daily Asharq Alawsat, since each one of us came from a different Arab country. For me, it was a great advantage to my journalistic experience in comparison to my previous job at a local publication which had journalists from the same background who spoke the same language. When I look back at my beginnings with Majalla and my archive of articles, investigations, and interviews, I feel wistful. Going down that memory lane means a great deal to me since it narrates a long history of events in the Arab world which left impressions on our lives today, whether it’s the spark of the Iranian revolution or the Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan and the effects that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of “the Arab Afghans” phenomenon which alarmed the region and the world on a political and security level for many years. Also, the Iraqi- Iranian war, the invasion of Kuwait and the repercussions that left a great mark in history. It is worth mentioning my first article in Majalla’s pilot issue which never made it to print. The article was about president Marshal Josip Tito’s illness and how it could lead to the breakdown of the Yugoslav federation. I remember writing this article a decade before the destructive wars that ignited between the regions of the country which ended in dismantling the area into six entities. In the early 1980s, the Majalla and Asharq Alawsat offices were located in a small street named Gough Square, just off of Fleet Street which headquartered most British newspapers back then. A few years ago, I went to that building after a long time, I can’t pretend that the scene brought tears to my eyes as the building was unrecognizably renovated, and nothing was preserved apart from the building’s number ‘4’. Nonetheless, I was nostalgic, not only because I had spent a big part of my life in that building, but also because of our battle to succeed and our daily struggles with pen and paper before the existence of the internet and computers. During that time, our magazine faced significant competition from a considerable number of Arab magazines. Majalla had several editors-in-chief during my time there and each one of them left a mark, whether that be on the magazine’s management or on the work atmosphere among us. (I enjoy using the term ‘family’ when talking about our team, and I am not sure if such an atmosphere still exists in other Arab prints.) It is important to mention the founders of Majalla and Asharq Alawsat, Hisham Mohammad Ali Hafez, who were the reason that the magazine continued to thrive since its inception, and also the work of my friend, the former editor-in-chief Abdul Karim Aboul Nasr, who gave Majalla its unique political identity.
by Elias Harfoush
