Although the only way to stop the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, was to suspend international travels at early stages, the current strict measures taken by government across the globe can still help to avoid further spread of the deadly virus and help health care systems cope with the crisis, but the existing approaches still lack proper international coordination, experts told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th March, 2020) Although the only way to stop the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, was to suspend international travels at early stages, the current strict measures taken by government across the globe can still help to avoid further spread of the deadly virus and help health care systems cope with the crisis, but the existing approaches still lack proper international coordination, experts told Sputnik.
On March 11, the World Health Organization classified the outbreak of the new coronavirus as a pandemic. Around 170,000 people in nearly 150 countries and territories have been confirmed to be infected, the majority of them have recovered, but more than 6,500 people have died, according to John Hopkins University's data.
In recent days, many governments around the world announced strict measures to curb the spread of the virus, which include a ban on mass gatherings, closure of schools, universities and restaurants, as well as suspension of flights to other countries and closure of borders.
According to Serge Morand, a researcher at Frances Montpellier University and Thailand's Kasetsart University specializing in host-parasite interactions, biodiversity and zoonotic diseases, so-called social distancing measures along with the promotion of basic hygiene were key to stopping further epidemic growth.
"Their major goal is to avoid the peak of a large scale, the consequences of which would be disastrous with the overcrowding of the hospitals, the increase of related morbidity, and probably panic movements. Respecting these measures will help to decrease the peak of epidemic and spread the number of cases that would be then better treated," the expert told Sputnik.
He noted that these measures were likely to stay in place long.
"But finally they will allow us to take care of the fragile population, prepare hospital systems. In the meantime we especially need to communicate better to learn to live in a perturbed social environment," Morand stressed.
When asked whether the current pandemic could have been averted, Professor Raina MacIntyre, head of the biosecurity program at the UNSW's Kirby Institute, told Sputnik that it could have been done if government curbed international travel earlier.
"All epidemics can be stamped out if contained very early, before travel related spread occurs," the expert said.
Morand similarly asserted that the only way of preventing the COVID-19 epidemic in China from turning into a global pandemic was to stop "any international exchanges and travels."
"An impossible decision to take because of the fear of financial, economic and social crises. And finally, we are risking to face all those crises," the expert said.
He also pointed out the lack of international coordination of measures to curb the COVID-19.
"It must be said that unfortunately there was a lack of coordination in the measures taken. The counties did not act together but have left each other, touched by the epidemic one by one, to get by themselves," Moran said, giving the example of the US administration's decision to suspend flights from Europe without consulting the European Union.
The expert recalled the 1918 influenza pandemic, known as a Spanish flu, which has become one of the deadliest pandemics in history, as the one people now possibly have in mind, fearing the worst scenario of COVID-19 pandemic development. He outlined, however, some major differences between the two, one being good coordination between the scientists across the globe.
"The first difference is that the pandemic of today takes place in a generally peaceful world, with the nations linked by growing global trade, and growing passenger flows of air transport. Other major difference is an open global collaboration of scientists and health professionals. Finally a major difference, and it's a luck, is relatively weak mortality of the virus, which offers us an opportunity to focus on the care of the most vulnerable, aged people and those suffering from other diseases,"
MacIntyre, on the other hand, stressed that today's pandemic was far more severe than another one that took place in the 21st century, the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus in 2009.
"This pandemic is more severe than the 2009 influenza pandemic - we hear that Italy's health system is on the verge of collapse and that critical care has to be rationed ... The case fatality is at least 10 times higher than the 2009 pandemic," she said.
The COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan, China's Hubei province, in late December, and has since spread worldwide. The WHO declared a global health emergency over the outbreak in late January. The number of cases is growing rapidly in Italy, Iran and South Korea, whereas in China they started to decline in the past days.
