According to WHO, Coronaviruses (CoV) is a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). The first outbreak of coronavirus was reported from Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019.
Common signs of infection include fever, cough and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, an infection can cause pneumonia kidney failure and even death. Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing. In the spirit of ubuntu and assisting with the prevention of the virus, U-Mask has committed to donating masks to China, where demand has spiked since the outbreak of coronavirus.
Co-founder of U-Mask David Molinsakwe said the decision to donate the masks was to pledge solidarity and support with the Chinese during the battle with the outbreak which had wreaked havoc in that country and beyond. “China is a key partner to our continent and we thought it was necessary to contribute to the embassy and assist in fighting the spread of the virus,” he said. His business partner Jodin Eksteen added that China had always assisted when Africa was in need and now it was the continent’s turn to jump in and assist that nation in any shape way or form.
“The valuable support in this crucial time is highly appreciated and highly commendable. The outbreak is indeed posing a serious threat and creating high attention worldwide; it’s in Wuhan but spreading quickly to neighbouring countries and what is more challenging is that the source of infection is still not known and ability to spread is growing,” said Ling Songtian, Chinese Ambassador to South African.
Songtian noted that national medical personnel and resources had been mobilized and rushed to Wuhan to offer all needed support and join the local government and medical staff in the city and Hubei province to fight together against the clock to combat the spread of the epidemic and treat the diagnosed patients with the full support of the Chinese government and people across the country but the facilities could not accommodate all the infected patients hence two new specialized hospitals with more than 2600 beds have been constructed in Wuhan.
He also explained that the country had developed and produced effective reagents to detect the virus. “By now, more than 328 infected patients have been cured and left the hospitals for home. The epidemic is expected to reach its peak in the next couple of days and from there will fall down to the end,” he concluded.
