Fears grow of a coronavirus pandemic
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The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus has raised the spectre of a global pandemic as governments ramp up their emergency responses, despite signs that the outbreak may be easing in China.
In fact, the coronavirus is spreading more quickly in Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world than in China where the virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan at the end of last year. The number of new infections inside China has for the first time overtaken by fresh cases elsewhere, with Italy, Iran and South Korea emerging as new hotspots for COVID-19.
Should it be declared a global pandemic? And is Africa equipped to deal with the outbreak?
To help us understand this further is to Prof Tulio de Oliviera, a genomics and epidemiology expert from the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He’s also a senior researcher at the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence
In fact, the coronavirus is spreading more quickly in Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world than in China where the virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan at the end of last year. The number of new infections inside China has for the first time overtaken by fresh cases elsewhere, with Italy, Iran and South Korea emerging as new hotspots for COVID-19.
Should it be declared a global pandemic? And is Africa equipped to deal with the outbreak?
To help us understand this further is to Prof Tulio de Oliviera, a genomics and epidemiology expert from the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He’s also a senior researcher at the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence
