Progress made with Covid-19

IT has been more than nine months since the initial coronavirus infection was declared in China.
Some people have been familiar with these groups of organisms earlier than the 2002 Sars outbreak which also started in China.
While these groups of viruses have been known in veterinary science, these same organisms have also been found on a small number of occasions in humans and, before the 2002 outbreak, was usually associated with mild cases of the flu and common cold.
There have also been numerous studies published of the increasing chance for the coronavirus to be transmitted from animals to humans but these warnings were ignored by world leaders.
The 2002 outbreak was followed by Mers in 2012 which started in Saudi Arabia.
In light of the current situation with the Covid-19, where the last count on Aug 10 stood at 20,021,293 cases and 733,918 deaths, I would like to give an assurance to anyone who reading this.
These are my personal observations and do not represent the institution I work for or various committees I serve.
Fellow Papua New Guineans, you can be assured of my advocacy since I have been quietly monitoring daily progression of this disease since January.
Although the total number of positive cases, including those in the US, Brazil, India and Russia, and what we have in PNG, has bypassed the Spanish flu cases of the beginning of the last century, the number of those who have recovered from the Covid-19 has gradually improved – from 19 per cent in March, 30 per cent in May, 46 per cent in June and 64 per cent on Aug 10.
The number of deaths has also improved – seven per cent in March, six per cent in May, 4.6 per cent in June and is now at 3.6 per cent.
These are assuring progresses which everyone must appreciate.
There is a continued improvement and governments must capitalise on this when making decisions for their countries.

Gerard Saleu