It has now been confirmed that cases of the Coronavirus have surpassed the SARs epidemic of 2003 which spread to more than two dozen countries during its 8 month outbreak.
So far, 10,000 people have been infected with the new Coronavirus, mostly in China, since its emergence just 4 weeks ago. It has now spread to some 22 countries, on 3 continents, and with deaths so far standing at 213 but set to rise in the next few hours. Two cases have been confirmed in the UK, and other European countries have reported cases, such as Germany, whilst the United States have also had instances confirmed in the last 24 hours, though all deaths, so far, have been confined to China itself.
It is said by experts that the Coronavirus bears a close similarity to the SARS virus. And, like the SARS virus that went before it, the Coronavirus is thought to have originated from animals, with transmission to humans via their consumption. Once human infection by the virus was established, it began to transmit from human to human.
The source of the outbreak is a ‘Wet Market’ in the Wuhan province of China. A market that illegally sells animals such as Marmots, Snakes and Bats as delicacies, eaten by locals for many years. The eating of these animals was the cause of the SARS epidemic and the Chinese government has banned the consumption of certain animals during the past few years, however, the practice still continues. Videos quickly emerged of people tucking into Bat Soup, which showed what appears to be a fully intact bat, complete with head and wings still attacked, that had been dropped into a watery looking vegetable soup. Some critical, or even repulsed, by this practice have, inevitably, been called ‘racist’ but a number of scientists have said the natural repulsion a person feels at the thought of eating this type of creature may be part of a self-preservation instinct due to the likelihood that animals such as Bats, Rats and Mice all carry diseases that can be life-threatening to humans, as in the case of the Coronavirus. So, not racist at all but, even in times of crisis, the Woke can’t resist an opportunity to shout ‘racist’.
A report from the Washington Times has linked the outbreak to one of two bio-labs that are in Wuhan Province. The bio-labs, run by the Chinese government, were also linked to the SARS outbreak in 2003, however, both the Chinese government, and the World Health Organisation dismiss the theory. More likely, both viruses have come from animal infection, but questions remain about how the Chinese government will deal with the outbreak going forward.
The first case of the Coronavirus was reported by the World Health Organisation’s China office on the 31st December, and in just four weeks it has spread to 22 countries, infected nearly 10,000 and has killed more than SARS. To combat this new contagion, Big-Pharma, so often derided and vilified as peddling snake oil and putting profit before people are working at unprecedented speed to develop a vaccine for the Coronavirus. Immunising a population against the threat is incredibly successful and, despite popular myth, entirely safe. A spokesperson for one Pharmaceuticals company in the US said that it would be ready in “a matter of weeks”. This will come too late for many in Wuhan, but provides reassurance for many who fear this is the ‘Spanish Flu’ of the 21st Century.