Solid actions needed for global fight against COVID-19

The novel coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Europe. As of Saturday, February 29, the total
number of confirmed cases in Italy reached 1,128, with the death toll rising to 29. And the number
of infections in France and Germany has also been increasing. France reported a total 100
confirmed cases Saturday while Germany reported 117 on Sunday, March 1. Worsening situation
in these two major EU countries raises concerns over the fall of Europe as a whole.
The first death confirmed in the US also signaled the severity of the situation. COVID-19 has
increasingly dominated trending topics in the US and Europe. More national and local
governments have canceled major events and closed schools and kindergartens. Tensions are
growing.
Government officials and media outlets in various countries and regions have constantly stated
that as their societies differ from China, they could not possibly adopt China’s measures to fight
the epidemic and have to take their own steps.
The situations do vary in different countries. Different countries have different ways of organizing
their societies. And due to geographical conditions and other factors, the virus may mutate. With
varied medical resources and conditions, mortality rates in different countries also vary.
However, there are significant trends.
First, the public’s fear of COVID-19 in many countries is increasing, which may lead to changes
in the epidemic situation and influence certain conventional decisions. Keeping people calm and
rational while curbing the epidemic will test all countries and regions.
Second, economic losses resulting from the epidemic are hard to avoid. All countries must be
prepared for much greater financial losses than having anticipated. At this stage, it is worthless to
focus much on accurate GDP data. In the short term, more countries are likely to prioritize
securing material supplies to ensure their societies can operate normally and also safeguarding an
intact industrial supply chain.
Third, there is a great possibility that the epidemic will worsen and stretch global medical
resources to the limit. Once an epidemic spreads rapidly in one place, it’s likely to overwhelm the
local medical system. The world must be prepared and get ready to provide assistance to regions
greatly ravaged by the novel coronavirus.
Fourth, different countries have their own epidemic monitoring networks, which greatly increases
the difficulty of improving the effectiveness of prevention and control worldwide and has made it
more difficult to maintain the movement of people during the epidemic. Countries must reach a
unified standard on prevention and control of those traveling across borders. Who needs to be
quarantined or banned from international travel? How long will it last? The international
community should reach a consensus. Should a health certificate from one country or region be
accepted in another? To work out these issues would greatly help reduce the costs of fighting the
epidemic.
For now it’s just a slogan to call on the international community to jointly combat the virus. It
would be a blessing for the international community if the epidemic could end within one or two
months. But should the coronavirus not be annihilated and continue to spread during the coming
winter, it will cause catastrophic damage to the world economy. We must explore a long-term
mechanism to deal with this possibility. Otherwise, the price we all have to pay will multiply.