China emerged as the epicenter of the novel COVID-19 in December 2019, and the past fortnight seems to have shifted the contagion from China to Europe.
In just 15 days, the epicenter of the coronavirus shifted from China to Europe, or Italy to be precise, as the nation reported more than 47,000 cases, which is the second-highest number of cases reported by a single country since the outbreak began. Almost two weeks back, China was struggling to contain the virus while being the epicenter of COVID-19, and it quickly shifted to Europe which has now become the epicenter of the virus.
China reported a drastic decline in its new cases as the outbreak peak is now over as claimed by the country. China reported that the number of positive cases for the past week has been over 80,000 and less than 85,000. European countries like Italy and Spain have reported a dramatic increase in their new cases. Mansi, a student of Lady Shri College, opined, “China had resorted to adopting strict lockdowns and other necessary measures to stop the virus from spreading further, and the country has done a fair job considering the fact that nobody was ready for this strange pandemic.”
China had reported 90 percent of the total cases of the outbreak as of March 1. By March 15, the rest of the nations accounted for nearly 50 percent of the confirmed COVID-19 cases. Chinese hospitals were overflowing with patients earlier due to the spread of the virus. However, with a sharp decline in the cases, hospitals designated solely for COVID-19 patients are now lying vacant. World Health Organization claimed earlier today that no new cases were reported in Wuhan in 24 hours which was presumed to be the origin of the novel COVID-19. Spain has ordered its 47 million citizens to remain indoors except necessary venturing such as buying groceries or medications.
Feature image credits-The Week
Suhani Malhotra