Essay: Coronavirus (SARS COVID-19) Australian response

9th March 2020
The Coronavirus (otherwise known as SARS COVID-19) is a mutation of the Coronaviruses, which is a respiratory disease that commonly affects birds and mammals, and in this mutation, humans, however, in the last 70 years, scientists have found that it can infect animals such as mice, rats, cats, dogs, turkey, horse, pig and cattle. Most recently, the coronavirus has spread to humans, which has spread rapidly and become a global epidemic.
Cause of Disease:
As mentioned above, the coronavirus is part of the coronavirus family, except the virus we all know is caused by a member of the coronavirus that is new to scientists, in the sense that it has not been encountered before. Like the others in this family, it comes from animals, and the similarities stop here. Many of those that were infected initially either worked or shopped in the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, China. We know that this disease was transmitted from animal to human however are unsure exactly how.
Modes of Infection:
After the initial cases, the infection can be transmitted from person to person, through contact with droplets of bodily fluids. As this is a respiratory disease, the main contributors to this are coughing and sneezing, touching an infected persons hands or face, or by touching things that an infected person has touched and then putting your hands anywhere near your face, and especially mouth.
Major Symptoms
A Coronavirus is a respiratory illness, and therefore shares symptoms of other respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis. Some of these symptoms are; a mild cough, shortness of breath, a runny nose, a sore throat, a headache and a fever. There is no known cure for Coronavirus, and no antibiotics work on the virus.
Why the Body Reacts to Coronavirus in The Way It Does:
The Coronavirus can cause pneumonia, and those who have fallen ill are reported to suffer coughs, fever and breathing difficulties. In severe cases there can be organ failure. As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system. Many of those who have died were already in poor health. Thus far, the mortality rate us 6%, and 100% of the people who died from it are elderly and already have a poor immune system. You are of much higher risk of death if you have Cardiovascular Disorder.
Why the Outbreak of Coronavirus Has Become an Epidemic:
The coronavirus officially became an epidemic earlier this month, as the count of those infected rose into the thousands. The reason it is classified as an epidemic is because it has escaped the control of officials and government. So far, the Coronavirus has infected over 100,000 people and has killed over 4,000. The world has encountered too many cases in too many countries for organisations such as the WHO (World Health Organisation) to keep track of. Some of the recorded cases have been in, but not limited to, Australia, China, the USA, Italy, Iran and Japan.
What Are Some of The Strategies Put in Place by China, And How Effective Are They?
China has advised that people do not travel to and from South Korea, Iran, any of China, Japan, Italy and Mongolia. In terms of safety measures, China has stated that people should, at this point, continue to take normal safety measures such as washing your hands often with soap and water and staying a distance away from people who may be infected, making sure that everyone uses a tissue or covers their mouth when they sneeze, and to avoid contact with any sick people, whether or not you believe they may be infected with the virus. Another safety measure that China has implemented is funding the production of personal protective equipment. The UN has devoted $15 million US dollars to research of Coronavirus. In the last 6 weeks the manufacturing of personal protective equipment has risen 60%. So far, 89 million masks, 30 million gowns, 1.59 million goggles, 76 million gloves, 2.9 million litres of hand sanitiser have been sold. Furthermore, China is asking infected people to ‘self-isolate’ for 2 weeks to avoid further contamination.
I strongly believe that the best possible strategy for containing the Coronavirus is stopping travel and asking people to self-isolate, as it is the only drastic measures that can be taken that result in reduced infection rates.
Recommendations on How the Coronavirus Could Be Contained If Australia Was to Experience an Outbreak:
As Australia is an island, we need to remember that we can take measures to ensure no new sources of the virus are going to come into Australia. As such, if we properly contain all the current known cases, and also enforce strategies at the border, and then we are sure to see a dramatic decline in new cases. Therefore, there are 2 main strategies that should be implemented if Australia was to experience an outbreak; Government enforced isolation of infected people, and screenings for incoming tourists coming off planes/cruise ships.
First of all, in preparation for if an outbreak was ever going to happen in Australia, the Government, the World Health Organisation, and the UN all need to provide funding to build new buildings for the purpose of quarantine. The ideal location for these centres would be somewhere in remote Australia, therefore no-one can possibly incidentally catch it. This would result in much quicker isolation in case of an emergency.
Second, the government should be looking to screen every person coming off a plane/boat looking to come into Australia. As Australia is an island, you are unable to come here just by walking across a border. Therefore, if the Government was to screen everyone coming into Australia for new cases of the virus, there could not possibly be any more cases than we already know about.
Some little things that the Government should be doing that do not require much effort or money are;
• Ensuring more people are educated – Less fake news
• Better communication between the government and officials regarding suspected cases.
• make compulsory for public health officials (i.e. general practitioners) to wear face masks at all times when working