"These are truly condemnable acts."
Here’s a timely reminder from the World Health Organization (WHO) and its Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus after the agency declared a global health emergency after the outbreak of the NCoVirus:
“This is the time for facts, not fear.”
“This is the time for science, not rumors.”
“This is the time for solidarity, not stigma.”
“We are all in this together.”
Indeed, we are all—the entire world community—in this together. Not just China and more specifically, Wuhan and the other cities in Hubei Province, ordered locked down by the Chinese leadership less than a week after the emergence of this still being-examined-and-named virus end of December last year. Or, for that matter, the Philippines and a host of other countries including such First World nations as the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia, Japan and our neighbors in ASEAN, Singapore and Vietnam, all f whom have reported a number of citizens confirmed infected by NCoV.
With about 259 deaths reported, thousands of new cases and clear evidence of human-to-human transmission, the WHO had no other choice but to reverse its earlier decision to hold off the declaration ensuring the immediate and active participation of governments and the private sector in getting to the bottom of this epidemic and, more importantly, fast track the development and use of testing kits, facilities and medicines before things run out of control.
For a while there, loads of fake news and, yes, even supposed antidotes to this rapidly spreading virus populated the air as the global public grappled with the real situation and its impact on our daily lives. To the credit of the WHO and the Chinese authorities, those wild claims have been properly rebutted and somehow the earlier panicky reactions laid to rest. Of course, with the announced lockdown and the increasing number of countries reporting possible infections, jitters continue to fill the air. This has become even more pronounced in the case of tourists and global travelers with governments and airlines restricting travel to and from China.
But then again, as the WHO’s Ghebreyesus emphasized, the organization is not inclined to recommend such moves to limit trade and movements, noting that “travel restrictions can cause more harm than good by hindering info-sharing and medical supply chains and harming economies” and that “countries and companies [should] make evidence-based and consistent decisions.”
In fact, the WHO Director-General made it clear that the decision to declare a “global health emergency” was not a call out on China and its capability to combat the virus and its spread. He said that the Chinese have shown immense capacity to work things out. Rather, he said, it was meant to ensure that the virus does not spread to countries with weak medical service systems which may cause the death of thousands of people. Which is just as well as we move on and together work out the needed means and solutions to minimize the damage which this newly discovered virus strain can cause to the global community.
Which brings us to our other point. This is not the time, in fact, there should never be a time for Sinophobes and their ilk to go wild. This is the time to restrain ourselves and refrain from further fueling anti-Chinese sentiments which have been swirling in the air since these Sinophobes and their allies, in and out of the country, ramp up their prejudices with their tirades on the West Philippine Sea.
These Sinophobes have focused their attention on Chinese-looking or Chinese tourists reportedly infected with the virus. Their bigoted response to an ongoing health emergency has been so awfully displayed with the issuance by certain schools—who should know better—to have Chinese students do self-quarantine as a precautionary measure against NCoV. This is a truly condemnable act.
It is a good thing that Adamson University has apologized for such a highly discriminatory issuance. Other schools which have issued precautionary advisories which were calculated to prevent the spread of the virus have been more sanguine and diplomatic in their reportage and dissemination. They have advised all students, not just Chinese or Chinese looking (?) to take all the necessary steps to ensure they do not get to be infected. That included travels to China, self-quarantine if needed and keeping healthy and clean at all times.
Dapat lang.