By Lawal Ogienagbon
‘Developed countries may have weapons of mass destruction, but what will that profit humanity which needs protection from pestilences, such as Coronavirus which can explode at any time without notice’
TO say that the Coronavirus aka COVID-19 has dealt a big blow to the whole world will be an understatement. The virus is ravaging the globe. Hardly does a day passes without reports of fresh cases and casualities. The world is benumbed by what has hit it.
From China to Canada, United States (US) to United Kingdom (UK), Poland to Portugal, Iraq to Iran, Sweden to Slovenia, the virus has left no nation out of its deadly sting.
The big countries which people hitherto thought had answers to every problem on earth have been made to look ordinary by COVID-19. They are the hardest hit by Coronavirus which the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a pandemic on March 12.
A pandemic is a disease that is spreading in multiple countries around the world at the same time. Since the virus hit China last December 31, there has been no stopping it as it spread around the world.
While declaring Coronavirus a pandemic, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that as at that date, there were 118,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths, adding that the virus has found a foothold on every continent except Antarctica.
He went on: ‘’we have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a Coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled at the same time.’’
The virus has become a big challenge to the developed countries and their scientists. The scientists have been in and out of their laboratories looking for a vaccine to tame the pestilence. The world has seen a pandemic before but it was not in the mould of Coronavirus.
The last pandemic to hit the world occurred in 2009. The novel Influenza A (H1N1) virus was first detected in the US and it quickly spread through that country and the world. But the rate at which the Coronavirus is spreading is alarming.
Each day comes with news of how the virus is wreaking havoc globally. In three months, the virus has taken a huge toll on the world. The global economy is threatened as countries take measures to contain its spread. The Coronavirus is more dangerous than many other viruses because it is an airborne disease.
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Person to person infection is easy from even a casual contact if necessary precautions are not taking. Football, the most followed sport in the world, has lost its shine to Coronavirus.
The world’s best leagues in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France have put the football season on hold because of COVID-19. Some footballers and the manager of Arsenal Mikel Arteta have tested positive for Coronavirus.
The global economy is haemorraging, with many countries on lock down because of the pandemic. There are fears that if a vaccine is not found for the virus in good time, there may be a global economic crisis. How soon can a vaccine be found for COVID-19 in order to save the world from its scourge?
Countries that should concentrate on researching for the vaccine are in a battle of sorts with the pandemic. The US, UK, France, Germany and Canada are being ravaged by the pandemic, slowing down the search for the vaccine.
Cheery news however came from the US on Tuesday that an experimental Coronavirus vaccine had been administered on four volunteers in Seattle.
It is the first known vaccine to be tested on healthy human beings. Their reaction to the vaccine will determine whether it should be administered on those with Coronavirus.
It is amazing how a virus can bring down a world, especially countries which think they have all it takes to face whatever comes their way.
The Coronavirus pandemic has shown that there are some unforeseen forces greater than the so-called world powers. These countries may be powerful, but their power has been curtailed in the face of Coronavirus.
Even, if eventually, a vaccine is found for the pandemic, the point would have been made that the virus shook the globe before it was contained.
Developed countries may have weapons of mass destruction which they can deploy at the press of a button in the event of a war, but what will that profit humanity, which needs to be protected from pestilences, such as Coronavirus which can explode at any time without notice. Just as COVID-19 did in China in 2019 and humbled the developed countries.
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