Stop the Coronavirus Panic if You Trust World Governments’ June Deadline
The coronavirus pandemic spread is expected to flatten its infection curve in the coming months for the highly infectious diseases, according to health officials from different countries. | Source: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
- The Philippines, the U.K., and Australia all expect coronavirus to reach its peak in between May and August.
- Many countries are now taking extreme measures of precaution, which a positive sign for a potential flattening of curve.
- New cases are dropping in South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and China.
The Philippines, the U.K., and Australia are estimating the peak of coronavirus to be hit in three to four months, as the panic invoked by the virus continues to intensify in Europe and the U.S.
All three countries anticipate the number of coronavirus cases to increase to the tens of thousands in the near-term. But, despite the highly contagious nature of the virus , health officials predict the virus outbreak to plateau within the next several months.
Why are governments confident in coronavirus peak?
Several European countries and the U.S. have been criticized for complacency in early March, when South Korea and Japan started to see the peaks of coronavirus.
Since then, the tone of most governments have changed . Following large stimulus packages and significant changes to monetary policies, the U.S., in particular, has refrained from holding back towards using as many resources as possible in containing coronavirus.
The Philippines have already issued a lockdown in its capital city Manila , and the total number of coronavirus cases in the country still remains below 200.
In contrast, South Korea, which has seen a decline of new coronavirus cases, issued a lockdown on the metropolitan city of Daegu after nearly a thousand cases were discovered.
It can be said that countries are starting to take extreme precautions that exceed those taken by South Korea and Singapore in the early days of the virus outbreak.
For that reason, the coronavirus pandemic in many regions are likely to be contained better than countries have already seen the peak of the virus pass.
The U.S., Israel, and some countries in Europe have implemented the drive-thru testing model of South Korea, and have begun to massively expand large-scale testing capacity of coronavirus.
With the appropriate precautionary measures in place, Department of Health (DOH) spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire of the Phillippines said :
We are going to hit that 75,000 mark if we do not set out appropriate interventions.] In two to three months, [we] can reach that peak… we can prevent this from happening … if we can implement stringent measures such as social distancing… we can flatten this curve.
In Australia, health officials have said that they expect the coronavirus peak to be hit by August , when the cycle of the flu season typically ends.
In the U.K., the Department of Health said it anticipates the peak of the virus outbreak to be hit between late May and June.
Flattening of curve widely expected
As governments worldwide move towards even stricter safety precautions than Japan and South Korea in the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic, the confidence towards a flattening of curve is increasing.
Whether that is enough to subside panic in both the global financial market and in societies internationally remains to be seen.
So far, South Korea, China, Japan, and Singapore have started to see a decrease in the number of new cases, which is a positive sign of a flattening curve.
