REDSTAR Hangzhou March 2020

/ FEATURES // 广 告 • 特 辑
Things have finally begun to calm down in Hangzhou. The loosening
of the lockdown restrictions and the slowing of new cases per
day to single digits were incredibly great news for all stuck inside
their homes or kept away on extended holidays abroad. But as
Hangzhou—and China as a whole—gets ready to return to work and get
the economy back on track, news of independent sustained outbreaks—
ones where most of the infected had no contact with anyone from China—
are appearing across the globe. The question on everyone’s mind is
whether COVID-19 is starting to go away or is it just getting started.
THE SECOND
CHAPTER OF
COVID-19
CHINA IS ON THE MEND,
BUT SYMPTOMS ARE
APPEARING GLOBALLY
By Jared Thompson
COVID-19 IN CONTEXT
Of all the costs that have resulted from this
virus outbreak, the families who have lost
loved ones are clearly paying the worst
price. With the total number of infected
individuals breaking 80,000 at the end of
February, there have been more than 2,600
who have lost their lives to the virus. It is
true that the common cold claims between
291,000 to 646,000 lives per year the world
over (CDC statistic), which does make the
Coronavirus seem small in comparison. While
this is true, we need to take into account
the fact that the flu only kills about 0.1% of
the people infected, which means on a bad
year we could see over 646 million cases of
the common cold. COVID-19, on the other
hand, has at an average death rate of over 3%
inside of China and 0.7% in larger outbreaks
outside of China. That means even with
lower numbers of cases and access to top
quality good health care abroad, COVID-19
is still killing at seven times the rate of the
common cold. The question is will it continue
to spread and reach places that cannot treat
it as well.
DARK CLOUDS OVER
OTHER SHORES
Like a bad storm in a distant land, the impact
of this virus has been watched from a far
by the world as it blew through China. But
over the last weekend, we have seen major
international outbreaks in Korea, Iran and
now most recently in Italy. In just a few
days, the alert levels of these countries have
spiked with the news of cases being reported
that have had no direct contact with anyone
who had travelled to China. COVID-19 is now
quickly becoming a global problem, and one
that many are worried won’t be addressed
with the same level of seriousness that we
saw in China.
It was hard for people outside of China
to imagine being quarantined for weeks
on end. Many international outlets cited
these measures as another instance of
China’s unparalleled control over the
lives of its citizens. With new sustained
outbreaks appearing abroad, doctors and
health organisations are worried that other
countries could be reacting too late. Korea
and Japan have both been hit hardest
following China, but both countries have
state-of-the-art medical infrastructure so
the number of deaths have stayed low:
seven and one, respectively. With Iran now
reporting 15 deaths in just the last few days
and that both a parliamentarian and their
Deputy Health Minister have now been
16 redstarhangzhou.com