Won't be long before we see a community spread in Mumbai, say experts

A full house at a seminar Combatting Coronavirus organised by the Observer Research Foundation ORF at the Trident hotel Nariman Point on Tuesday afternoon saw a multipronged thrust mdash a look at China and Wuhan the city in Hubei province as the epicentre of the disease a global approach to blunt the biological disaster mdash that finally narrowed down to a focus on IndiaParticipants and audience members warned it may not be long before we see a community spread of the virus here and need measures to combat itDhaval Desai vice president ORF started by stating The positive is that the number of new cases outside Hubei province in China are decreasing The downside is that cases outside in other countries are increasing This is seriously detrimental to the global economy given the centrality of Chinas position in the world today and the ramifications and repercussions are bound to be huge when Chinas industrial output is affected Desai added global indices have fallen by more than 10 per centVisitors wear protective masks in the wake of the deadly novel Coronavirus at Government Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad PicPTIChinese initiativesTang Guocai Consul General Consulate General of China in Mumbai started by stressing on the great sacrifice made by my country in the fight against the virus A megacity like Mumbai Wuhan has been in quarantine and lockdown for days It is not just small areas but an entire city in quarantine One also has to commend great transparency shown by China and the responsibility taken by the nation in this fight He added in this they have set an example of tackling all kinds of transborder challengesWhile the economic outlook is gloomy he said The larger perspective is that the pillars of Chinas economy are sound and stable For instance though Wuhan is in lockdown the internal delivery system there is robust Innovation has ensured ebusinesses like Alibaba for instance are still doing well Now we see there is concern in India too but similarly we see great dynamism in India with reference to the economy We should be confident that we will come out strongerStill on the IndiaChina connect he spoke about letters of support for China from many political leaders in India We have also received a letter from actor Aamir Khan who is much loved in China Today is Tuesday and the USA calls it super Tuesday Since the world is trying to make everything super we both India and China are super populations we have to approach this in the spirit of a global village We should be proud of our super responsibility Guocai finishedInformation Commissioner of Maharashtra Sumit Mullick urged people to keep a sense of perspective about Coronavirus which is a global citizen it does not respect borders He also said that it has put the focus on public health systems everywhere He also had a doff of the hat for China where a city of 11 million people is on lockdown It sets a new benchmark it is called cordon sanitaire Wuhan It may not work in Mumbai it worked in China because of the discipline and control finished MullickPanel pointsA panel discussion with doctors and experts and an interactive session highlighted Mumbais measures from more screening at airports and isolation wards to selfdeclaration forms in aircraft which ask passengers to cite certain details about where they have travelled and if they are feeling sick honestly We need an alert population and alert clinicians which should be the frontline of this fight said some For all the accolades to China some did say that the country stands accused of being late in revealing the Coronavirus threat One expert though stated it may not be long before we see a community spread of the virus here Speakers collectively rued the infodemic about the virus the misinformation being spread a feeling of fear suffusing the society because of fake news on social media with some advocating those who spread panic and misinformation through social media must be dealt with by the lawSixNo of Coronavirus cases in IndiaCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates