By Eric Elezuo
On page 312 of Dean Koontz’s book, The Eyes of Darkness, released in 1981, a prediction, or more or less a prophesy, was presented thus:
“In around 2020, a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments. Almost more baffling than the illness itself will be the fact that it will suddenly as quickly as it arrived, attack again ten years later, and then disappear completely.”
At the twilight of 2019, a disease was noticed in the Wuhan Province of China. It was called Coronavirus, code named COVID-19. The sudden incursion of the disease took the world by surprise, and before anyone could marshal out any form of solution, the disease has crossed countries and continents, and people were dropping dead. Not only are lives being lost, activities in the world seem to have come to a standstill with currencies crashing, oil price somersaulting, international businesses suspended, conferences barred, sports fiestas put on hold and international flights either cancelled or abrogated. Many people have wondered if the world was not coming to a disastrous end. It is that bad! And the World Health Organisation has declared the situation a pandemic.
Among drastic measures taken by most world governments include Turkey halting flights with nine European countries, including France, Germany and Spain. This, the transport minister said on Friday, as part of Ankara’s bid to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
“From 8:00 am (0500 GMT) tomorrow, Saturday, flights will be stopped until April 17 to Germany, France, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands,” Transport and Infrastructure Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan told reporters in Ankara. This is in addition to a ban already in place on flight connections with China, Iran, Iraq, Italy and South Korea.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the number of COVID-19 cases rose to five, all linked to the first case announced Wednesday of a man who returned from Europe.
Turkey has already ordered schools to close for two weeks from Monday and universities to take a three-week holiday.
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that eight out of 10 persons will be affected by the coronavirus; a figure that has sent jitters down the spine of British citizens, wondering who is therefore saved. In the same vein, the coach of A-list premiership club side, Mikel Arteta has also contracted the disease even as the entire team has been quarantined. The team was exposed to the owner of Olympiacos, Greece, who tested positive to the virus, during their last Europa League game. Not only that, Chelsea’s forward, Callum, has also been tested positive for the disease, and as expected, the entire team and staff are quarantined.
The case of Britain continue to elicit sympathy as the Health Minister did not escape the prying and devastating effects of the virus as she was infected and tested positive.
In Canada, the wife of President Justin Trudeau has tested positive to the virus, and is presently on quarantine. The President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, where over 1000 cases have been reported, has decided to go for coronavirus test ‘very soon’ top ascertain his status. Trump has already announced a national state of emergency, freeing up $50 billion in federal funds for the battle against the coronavirus pandemic as he vowed to “vastly” ramp up testing capacity.
“To unleash the full power of the federal government, I’m officially declaring a national emergency,” Trump told a news conference on the White House lawn.
“The next eight weeks are critical,” he said. “We can learn and we will turn a corner on this virus,” he said. The disease knows and respects no colour, creed, position or status. It attacks without mercy. CCN sarcastically puts it that US is beginning to look like Italy in lockdown. The United Nations headquarters has been down as well and so is other world centres of convergence.
The case of Iran, Italy and the originating country, China, remains a case study as not only more deaths are recorded but the entire countries are on lockdown. China, in frustration, has accused the United states’ military of bringing coronavirus to the epicentre of Wuhan; what the accusation portends is better imagined.
In France, schools and public institutions have been closed down pending further emergency while Spain is on the verge of declaring state of alert.
There’s hardly any region of the world that has been affected with Europe and Asia taking the lion-share.
According to wikipedia, “The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). First identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China in mid-November 2019 the outbreak was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. As of 13 March 2020, over 145,000 cases have been confirmed in more than 130 countries and territories, with major outbreaks in mainland China, Italy, South Korea, and Iran. As of 13 March, more than 5,400 people have died from the disease and more than 70,900 have recovered.
“The virus spreads between people in a way similar to influenza, via respiratory droplets from coughing. The time between exposure and symptom onset is typically five days, but may range from two to fourteen days. Symptoms are most often fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Complications may include pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. There is currently no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment, but research is ongoing. Efforts are aimed at managing symptoms and supportive therapy. Recommended preventive measures include handwashing, maintaining distance from other people (particularly those who are unwell), and monitoring and self-isolation for fourteen days for people who suspect they are infected. The deaths per number of diagnosed cases is currently 3-4%, compared to ~0.1% for influenza. The deaths per infected person will be lower.”
In Nigeria however, out of the persons who tested positive to the virus, one has been certified okay and negative. Health officials believe the other, the original Italian index, will fine ‘soon’ as he is in ‘stable’ condition. So far, only three deaths have been recorded in Africa with Morocco, Algeria and Egypt taking an equal share.
It is not known how soon the pandemic will be resolved so that the world can go back to life as usual as at date, no known cure has been discovered. Only prevention measures are are available for now.
It is only hoped and desired that this is not the end of the beginning, and holding on to the prediction of 1981 by Koontz, how many lives will be lost before the dreaded virus suddenly fizzles away. Only time will tell.
However we look at it, it is no doubt the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning for a lot of the world’s population if we take for granted that death ends all things.
