Africa stands with China to defeat coronavirus
By
Mwangi Wachira | People's Daily app
Editor’s note: The author is a former World Bank
economist, former Kenya President advisor, and Kenyan economist living in
Washington, DC.
China’s response to the coronavirus has earned
praise from the World Health Organization, as well as many countries. The
response has also strengthened Africa’s solidarity with China.
The symptoms of coronavirus infection are so
common that it took some time to realize that we are dealing with a new virus.
But once the new virus was identified, China’s response set new standards for
the world. Newspaper reports in Africa are praising the scale and speed of the
response.
Wuhan’s new 1000-bed Huoshenshan hospital covering
60,000 square meters has been built in just 10 days by 7,000 people working
‘round the clock. It is now operational. A second hospital with 1,600 beds will
open its doors by this coming weekend.
The scale and speed are unmatched anywhere in the
world.
To many Africans, what is even more awe inspiring
is what is not visible. Translating the idea of a dedicated hospital into
blueprints for thousands of components, assembling them into a model, agreeing
on specifications and standards, contracting different entities to make or
build the components, preparing the site and erecting the hospital about one
month after the enemy was identified is a feat in which every citizen of China
can take pride.
Equally compelling is convening 1,400 medical
specialists to handle intensive care, diagnosis and infection control units
with a unity of purpose. The specialists bring skills gained from past
battles: fighting SARS, a relative of the new coronavirus, or Ebola virus
in Africa. This large team appears to be working with the precision of a
military operation.
The Enemy
But coronavirus is also awakening racism. Africans
are recalling other global health emergencies.
The 1918 flu pandemic, first detected in the US
heartland, affected nearly a third of the world’s population. No country or
region was blamed for the emergency. No stigma was attached to US citizens. But
the 1957 flu that was first identified in Singapore and Hong Kong was quickly
labelled “Asian Flu.” We must guard against compounding the tragedy of
coronavirus with racism or bigotry. The virus is the enemy.
While no cases have been reported in Africa,
countries are screening people coming from China. At the same time, China is
helping African governments by monitoring Africans in China. So far, there does
not appear to be a need to evacuate Africans although a few countries have done
so. Moreover, there does not appear to be a necessity for general quarantine of
everyone coming from China.
Hope
African media is also reporting signs of hope,
even as the people of Hubei Province and the city of Wuhan bear the pain of
quarantine.
For example, we know that although there are over
20,000 identified cases worldwide and over 400 people have died, near 1,000
have recovered and the rate of recovery is steadily growing. Clearly the
medical and health professionals on the frontline, supported by scientists in
China and the world are starting to understand the new enemy.
They are inching their way towards a strategy, a
set of protocols or procedures for tackling either the coronavirus or
associated infections.
Africans are hanging on to this ray of hope. The
African continent, country after country, stands in solidarity with China,
confident that China has the scientific knowhow and technical capacity to
manage this health emergency.
Those like Egypt or South Africa that manufacture
medical supplies and equipment have delivered their assistance to China. But
for African countries that cannot extend such assistance, goodwill towards
China runs deep in Africa – a continent that has pinned its hope for genuine
development on the partnership with China.
The Flowers Will Blossom
We must say to the people of Wuhan that Spring
cannot be far; the flowers will blossom again. We must believe that we will
triumph with China leading this effort.
Africa stands with China to defeat coronavirus
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