WHO warns shutting down borders could allow Coronavirus to spread faster

The World Health Organization on January 31 reportedly said that closing down borders with China could be ineffective, adding that such a decision could result in a quicker spread of the coronavirus. The viral outbreak of the disease has resulted in 231 deaths and confirmed cases of nearly 9,800 cases.

Closing down of borders could be ineffective

A representative of the World Health Organization, Christian Lindmeier said that with a decision such as an official shutdown of the border with China could result in countries losing track of people and a failure to monitor their movements. According to reports, numerous countries have stopped cross- border traffic with China and has banned entry for people residing in the city of Wuhan.

Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on January 30 ordered to close its border with China to prevent the spread of the virus. According to a Russian news agency, Mishustin said that the order to take the decision to close the border in the Far East had been signed.

China calls for international solidarity

With the World Health Organisation declaring the Coronavirus outbreak as a global health emergency, China called for international solidarity and asked countries to avoid overreacting on the situation. After the death toll of the novel virus rose to 231 with as many as 9,800 confirmed cases in China, its ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Jun wants all countries to behave in a responsible manner.

The WHO had initially stated that it was not a global health emergency as the outbreak was confined to China. However, WHO updated the global risk degree from 'moderate' to 'high' and cited an error in their previous report in relation to the coronavirus.

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Coronavirus

The novel coronavirus is a new strain in the large family of coronaviruses (CoV) which was previously not identified in humans. CoV causes illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). CoV is zoonotic which means such viruses transmit between animals and humans but Chinese health authorities confirmed human to human transmission of the SARS-like virus, creating fears of a possible pandemic.

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(with inputs from agencies)