Timely measures by UAE against coronavirus

At a time when there’s global worry over fast-spreading coronavirus, the UAE deserves praise for taking timely and effective precautions to protect the country from the disease.

UAE Minister of Health Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammed Al Owais has made it clear that no case of coronavirus infection has been found in the UAE, and that comes as great relief.

The National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management team, which he chaired, not only discussed in detail the steps taken to ensure that the UAE remained free from the attack of the virus and the resultant respiratory illness, but also correctly stressed the importance of full preparedness on the part of all the concerned entities to deal with any eventuality concerning coronavirus.

The UAE has already raised the level of alertness in the country in order to deal with any development proactively and effectively at the border crossings, following a close assessment of the domestic and external situation, as well as in the wake of the preventive steps taken by China.

All aspects are being looked into and nothing is left to chance. The authorities have moved in the right direction by sufficiently briefing public sector and private sector health entities in the country on the ways to anticipate and preempt the disease as well as to prevent it from spreading in case of any incidence.

Residents would do well to ascertain news reports about the disease from reliable and official sources and avoid giving heed to rumours.

Globally, fears over the virus refuse to abate as it has accelerated its spread in China and it seems the ability of the virus to spread is actually getting stronger. President Xi Jinping himself has termed the outbreak a grave situation.

The epidemic has revived memories of the SARS outbreak that originated in China and killed nearly 800 as it spread around the world in 2002 and 2003. Its spread has come amid China’s busiest travel period of the year, when millions crisscross the country or head abroad for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Global concern is not without reasons as cases have been reported in varied places such as Hong Kong, Macao, Thailand, Taiwan Japan, South Korea, the US, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France, Canada and Australia.

There are still many unknown factors, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases.

The incubation period for the virus can range from one to 14 days, during which infection can occur, which was not the case with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The biggest challenge is that the latest virus spreads before symptoms show.

SARS was a coronavirus that originated in China and killed nearly 800 people globally in 2002 and 2003.

Although airports around the world have stepped up screening of passengers from China, the effectiveness of these efforts is yet to be gauged.

For example, France has decided not to take the temperatures of arriving passengers because, as Health Minister Agnes Buzyn pointed out, it provides a false sense of safety.

A serious note should be taken of the fact that in each of France’s three confirmed cases, they arrived without a fever.

As the virus continues to pose a threat globally, all countries need to remain vigilant to contain it through active surveillance, early detection, isolation, case management, and prevention of onward spread of infection.