“We’ve been told the virus can stay on objects for some time, so I made sure to wash all of the items I bought from the store, including packets of crisps, bottles of water, chocolate bars and even coffee sachets,” she said.

“I saw one video of a man spitting on all of the buttons in an apartment elevator,” said the South African teacher.

A disturbing unverified video recorded at a hospital’s CCTV emerged which showed infected people coughing and licking objects kept on the reception desk.

The outbreak of coronavirus in China and its eventual spread to other nations have created a situation of panic and medical emergency. The virus causes respiratory infection.

Early symptoms include fever and dry cough. It eventually causes shortness of breath. The most disturbing fact is that there is no available cure or vaccine available at this time.

On January 23 it was reported that several Malayali nurses in Saudi Arabia had been quarantined following exposure to a patient infected with the coronavirus. As per reports, the nurses have now been kept in isolation in a separate ward.

The Virus attack was confirmed initially in a Filipino woman and then spread to the Malayali nurse, an Ettumanoor native when she attended her for treatment. The coronavirus case has been reported in the Al Hayat National Hospital in Saudi Arabia’s Baha.

The death toll has already reached a staggering number of 132, most of whom lived in China’s Wuhan city. There have been more than 6100 confirmed cases of contra virus exposure since the outbreak began almost a month ago. Most patients are between 55-87 years old. As such, many tourist places have been shut down and festivities cancelled.

Most affected is the Wuhan city, where the virus outbreak was first reported. Along with Wuhan, the Chinese authorities have locked down 18 cities in the country to prevent the virus from spreading. All flights, trains and other modes of transportation going out these cities have been suspended, meaning people in these places can’t leave the cities.

This had prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue guidelines to prevent exposure to the virus and its further transmission. The organization is now closely monitoring the situation along with the Chinese authorities.

Schools have been shut down for two weeks in Hong Kong. Advisories have been released by the city officials to stay at home and contain the spread of the virus. Bus services have been suspended in Enshi while the railway station has been closed for public use in Ezhou.

Hospitals have been jampacked and pharmacies are running short of medicines. Chinese media outlets have claimed that a 1,000-bed hospital will become fully functional within 6 days.

It is now being speculated that the origin of the virus may be linked to China’s discreet Biological Warfare program.

India’s Preparedness

Roughly, 23000 Indian students are currently studying in China, and a considerable number among them are at the Wuhan Medical University. The cost of treatment has run up to 1 million yuan (1 Cr Indian rupees) for Maheshwari, an Indian working at a primary school teacher in Shenzhen.

India is gearing up to face the dangers of the outbreak. There are now a total of 19 airports wherein passengers are being screened for coronavirus. Now, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has provisions for a separate ward to contain the spread of the deadly disease.