As Wuhan breathes fresh air after 76 days of battle with coronavirus, airports, buses, trains, and public parks come to life once again. The people who were stuck are returning to their homes again. Around 55,000 people traveled within a week from the Chinese city. The tourist spots are seeing families gathering and travel enthusiasts back on their feet. As China is celebrating its “victory” over the virus which left more than 3000 dead, the potential enemy didn’t yet succumb. There is fear that it might boomerang in Asian countries.
What is a ‘second wave’ of coronavirus?
The disease is spread when an infectious person comes in contact with a susceptible person. As majority of the population is not immune or strong enough to fight this virus. It can spread again easily if the infected person is exposed to the public, making a rise in cases again. This is called the ‘Second Wave’.
According to scientists and experts in China, there is a risk of a deadly second wave of the virus and countries that are relaxing lockdowns now need to be on alert and conduct tests and contact tracing extensively. The second wave is predicted to follow by the end of April.
The vaccine which is the only solution to build immunity amongst people will reach us after a year till then, we still are at risk of catching the virus. Researchers are still working on whether the people who are recovered are still vulnerable to the disease as 3 to 10% of people recovered are tested positive again.
Detecting cases with ‘no symptoms’ stand as a challenge
But while the government is slowly relaxing restrictions, Chinese health experts have urged the public to continue to practice caution. According to nature.com, even in Wuhan — which accounted for more than half of China’s cases — the number of those people infected and are now immune to the disease is probably less than 10% — which means there are lots of people still vulnerable to infection.
China reported 108 new cases of coronavirus in a single day. (on 13 April 2020). People roam around the city after dreadful days of total lockdown, it is still important to control and prevent the risks of the disease, given the ease with which it passes.
Chinese residents who are returning home from neighboring countries such as Russia are bringing an influx of new infections. Chinese authorities do not count asymptomatic cases as part of its tally of confirmed coronavirus infections until patients show symptoms such as a fever or a cough. According to a report by The Reuters, as of 8 April, 1,095 asymptomatic patients were under medical observation in China, with 358 of them travelers arriving from abroad.
China is taking measures to prevent but at the cost of predicted future infections.
As we are still learning about new methods to prevent transmission COVID-19. China is implementing a nationwide monitoring system. Each resident of each province is issued a QR code when scanned reveals the travel history and health details of an individual. If the person hasn’t been to the hotspot of the infection, only then he/she is allowed to travel to public spaces with a ‘green status’
Many International media houses blame China for racing to compete and investing huge amounts in foreign markets to improve its economy, which was slapped with coronavirus badly in the last few months. China is in a hurry to get its industries started and manufacturing units to embark on their work again despite warnings from health experts.
Not only China, but other small countries in Asia are also detecting new cases slowly and experts believe that is warning bell to the danger of ‘second wave’.
The Asian countries once applauded for managing COVID-19, are tracing new cases, all have one thing in common.
Singapore, a country praised by the WHO and nations all around the world for managing COVID-19 during the initial stage through extensive testing, border security, and Quarantine measures is now challenged by the rising number of cases.
Singapore reported 287 news cases taking the toll to 1910 confirmed cases (until 10 March 2020). Several residents and students who were asymptomatic returned before March 23, are developing symptoms and infecting others. Hundreds of manual laborers from countries like Bangladesh, India, China, Thailand, etc are quarantined in close-quarter dormitories, which are linked to the rising new cases. Singapore has again declared lockdown till May 1.
South Korea, Taiwan & Japan are seeing a rise in cases slowly in double digits. Allowing passengers to travel overseas sparks the risk of second wave infections which might occur in small undetected pockets. Cases are expected to rise slowly unless tested and monitored.
Rather than rushing to bury the restrictions, why not wait a little longer..and get this ailment over with?
These countries should take advantage of the experience they have and tackle the second with a better conscience. The economy will stand strong AGAIN. But the question still remains, why do countries wake up and take action after hundreds of its citizens die?
