Letter to BS: India should prepare itself for a coronavirus outbreak

This refers to the editorial “AI to the rescue” (10 February) regarding the coronavirus threat. There are distinct similarities between SARS and the coronavirus outbreak because both originated from China and killed more than 700 people. Only, SARS had a cure, which is not the case with the coronavirus. Though China has informed the World Health Organisation about this epidemic, it did not handle this infection the way it should have. In fact, China pulled up its own doctors who tried to raise their voice against the coronavirus threat. China thought it would be able to handle this, but unfortunately found it is too big a problem for them to wish away. As rightly pointed out in your editorial, it is better to be prepared for any eventuality here in India. Today we may have less than 10 confirmed cases in Kerala, but there is no guarantee that it will not spread further.

 
Bal Govind, Noida

 
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