• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Coronavirus: Going on vacation, attending a business function – avoid these countries

Coronavirus: Going on vacation, attending a business function – avoid these countries

The outbreak of the Coronavirus is gradually morphing into a pandemic, slipping past borders and walls afflicting over 80,000 people and resulting in over 3,000 deaths.

Several countries have hundreds of confirmed cases and many others are waiting for the 14-day incubation period to know their fate.

Figures of confirmed cases keeps changing but so far more than 1,200 cases have been confirmed in 30 countries leading to 20 deaths outside China.

This means that international travel now requires extreme caution and perhaps border closure may prove useful if the Customs can be persuaded to actually do their jobs.

Below are countries you may wish to avoid altogether:

 

China

China’s Hubei province with its capital in Wuhan is the birthplace of the virus now officially designated as Covid-19. The country has seen over 77,000 infections and over 3,000 people have died.

Interestingly, the number of new cases has been going down following the government’s decision to lock down over 11million people who reside in the city.

However, the city is not out of the woods yet. Some people slipped past the curfew and a study of 44,000 coronavirus cases by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 80% had been mild.

Someone with a strong immune system may not even show symptoms until 14 days – you’re safer away from their company.

South Korea

This country of about 50million people is the most unfortunate after China. The country has recorded nearly 1,000 cases and has seen 10 confirmed deaths from COVID-19.

Fears of a pandemic have jarred stock markets around the world, prompted increased travel restrictions and sparked a race to test hundreds of thousands more people in South Korea for the disease.

The virus spread in South Korea is dramatic as many cases have been traced to a hospital in the Southeastern county of Cheongdo and a minor Christian sect in the city of Daegu, home to 2.5 million people.

If these were Nigeria, these are the two places people will go to find a cure. Imagine an outbreak at a crusade or the general hospital?

Unless your life depended on the travel, wouldn’t you rather Skype?

 

United States

President Donald Trump may have restricted issuance of immigrant visas to Nigeria but if there’s a possibility that traveling there could kill you, maybe he’d rather keep it.

So far, the United States has recorded 53 confirmed cases and most of them from a single cruise ship that docked weeks ago in Japan.

While on a visit in India, the president said he was confident that the virus was ‘going away’ as if sunny optimism were a novel cure.

Infected people are sequestered in a military base in California. The government seeking to ship them off to a medical facility at Costa Mesa, in a different county but a judge is having none of that.

Until the drama plays out, you’re better off skipping that US trip.

 

Iran

This country is clearly not Nigeria’s favourite tourist or business destination but what’s happening there requires our attention.

Iranian health officials said the number of confirmed cases in the country have risen to 95, with 15 confirmed deaths.

Sadly, even the country’s deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi who has been warning people to be cautious has been infected.

Remember it is the same country that shot down a passenger plane that it had cleared to take off.

 

Italy

Italy now has the highest number of coronavirus infections outside Asia, as 54 new cases were detected in the country’s north overnight, bringing the total to 283, according to reports by Italian civil protection agency on Tuesday.

The cases are heavily concentrated in the region of Lombardy where 212 infections have been confirmed. Seven people have so far died from the virus in the country.

However, the situation could get worse as a hospital in the country has been blamed for helping spread the virus.

People are stocking up on food and medicines as if the apocalypse was on its way. You might want to get out of the fray and use video conferencing for meetings.

Tourist sites have been closed anyway so that shipped has sailed.

Apart from these countries, you may have to avoid Japan, Cambodia, UK, France, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia among others.  Yes, just lock your passport somewhere and wait this thing out.

The World Health Organisation has warned that the world lacks the capacity to contain the virus, you clearly don’t want it in Nigeria where we have been very unfortunate with malaria.