THE new coronavirus strain, classified as “betacoronavirus,” has not been properly named. It still comes by its shorthand, “2019-nCov.” We will simply call it the “Wuhan betacoronavirus.”
As of Feb. 11, at least 1,016 already died in China. Confirmed cases ballooned to 42,638, reaching 28 more countries.
The epicenter of the outbreak is Wuhan City in the Hubei Province, China. However, the Wuhan betacoronavirus has spread already to nearby provinces (Guangdong Province and Sichuan Province) and municipalities or cities, such as Beijing (practically surrounded by the Hebei Province), Shanghai (juxtaposed by Jiangsu Province in the northwest and Zhejiang Province in the south) and Hong Kong (south of Guangdong).
It must be noted that Shanghai is the most populous municipality in China and second worldwide while Beijing follows as the second most populous in the socialist country and third worldwide. Thus, the risk of spilling the infection to the Hebei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces is high unless the cordoning of these areas is airtight. The problem is, except for vacuums, nothing is airtight.
That also makes the Philippines vulnerable. Some major tourist drop offs in the country are so because of their direct flights to and from China. These locations, apart from Manila, are Cebu City, Angeles City, Kalibo (a municipality in Aklan Province), and Panglao (an island in Bohol Province).
What makes this relevant after the government has expanded the temporary travel ban for China-originated flyers last Feb. 2? It is not just relevant but also crucial because from Dec. 30 to Feb. 2, it took the ban 33 days to be implemented. The maximum known incubation period for infected travelers is around 12 days. Travelers are asymptomatic during this period but they are highly infectious.
Thus, the most crucial tourists from China are those who came in 12 days before Feb. 2, or from Jan. 20 to Feb. 1. By the first week of February, they must be symptomatic already if they were infected. We hope that no one was infected among them.
If we have the containment, diagnostic and management capacity of developed countries, such as China and the United States, perhaps we have the luxury of challenging these infections by not closing our aeronautical entry points. If we have not, then humility dictates that we admit that and protect our drop-off points accordingly.
However, let us be reminded that science is still behind nature. We are behind in science. Our only recourse is prayer, which is always beneficial and indispensable, and basic health-keeping knowledge and behaviors.