CRISIS IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN
Post by: Ashritha Kota
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The condition all over the globe is censorious.
The number of positive cases is yet exponential. Globally, the number of
positive cases has increased to 4.63 million. The death count has reached 311
thousand. Yet, the recovery rate is low. About 1.7 million people have
recovered.
(a) confirmed cases of COVID-19 (b) Deaths due to COVID-19
The measures regarding lockdown and the guidelines provided
by WHO is to be followed effectively by all the countries to bring down the
number of positive and so to increase the recovery rate. But this is not seen
in many of the countries, especially the highly infected.
On the other hand, few of the countries though called Underdeveloped, have maintained a low number of cases and it has been a global attraction. Of these, African countries have been in the news.
EBOLA OUTBREAK
This is not the first struggle faced by African countries.
The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has been affecting them for the past 44 years. The fruit bats are
thought to be the natural hosts of this Ebola virus and the virus is
transmitted to humans through direct contact with body fluids, secretions of
the infected animals.
EVD was first seen in 1976 in two simultaneous breakdowns. This virus had sickened about 2512 people and killed 1676 in 2018-19. This was the second-largest outbreak, behind the epidemic that burned
through West Africa in 2014-16. The total cases (confirmed, suspected,
probable) in 2014 outbreak had reached 28,652 and the death count was about 11 thousand. Nearly 50% of the infected were dead due to severe symptoms. The
reason for the existence of Ebola cases yet is the presence of a large number
of fruit bats in the Western African region. The cases are still seen in few of the African countries and the struggle is ongoing. In economic terms, they faced
losses of about $1.6 billion.
Ebola infection and fatalities
COVID-19 IN AFRICA
Coming to the recent COVID pandemic in Africa, the struggle
for resources, equipment and funding for health care was real at the beginning
of the pandemic. But the previous epidemic was instrumental in changing the
emergency health responses in several African countries. Ebola incited the
Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) to change its crisis reaction structure,
while specialists recognized the need for quick research, fast lab testing and
changing the plan of treatment focus. Numerous wellbeing labourers in Africa
state they took insignificant bits of knowledge from Ebola that can be applied
to the present coronavirus pandemic.
The aftermath of Ebola now means West African countries including Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria currently rank as better prepared for COVID-19 than richer countries with more sophisticated health systems
The aftermath of Ebola now means West African countries including Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria currently rank as better prepared for COVID-19 than richer countries with more sophisticated health systems
The number of COVID-19 cases all over the continent has summed up to
81,852 and the death count has reached 2715 and almost 31 thousand people
have recovered as of May 18th. The highest number of cases in the continent is
seen in South Africa and Egypt.
SOUTH AFRICA
At the beginning of the pandemic, there had been the battle
to implement social distancing and successful cleanliness in South Africa's
least fortunate, most jam-packed neighbourhoods, where many feared the virus
could yet wreak havoc. But their response to this was quick. They carried out
lockdown for a week which was recorded as the strictest lockdown around the
globe. About 14,355 cases are confirmed, 261 deaths and 6478 recovered cases.
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| Positive cases reported in South Africa |
EGYPT
Egypt has an overwhelmingly young population, implying that fewer individuals will show genuine side effects of Covid-19. Egypt has a populace of 100 million individuals, where 95% live on generally 5% of the land, a challenge for practising social distancing. The government has found a way to deal with the issue, including shortening prayer times and reporting a £5.2billion reserve to battle the "outcomes of the infection". It has reported 11,719 positive cases, 612 deaths and 3526 recovered cases as on May 17th.
 |
| Positive cases reported in Egypt |
The Ebola epidemic has prepared many local communities for
Covid-19. Ebola is less contagious than COVID-19 but more deadly. The hygiene
and quarantine rules are well followed since they have experienced such
situations during the previous outbreak which have made them more cautious and
stronger to deal with the pandemic. The hospitals that were built during the
Ebola outbreak is fit with new equipment for the COVID test and is of great use for the treatment.
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