ARTICLE FOR MY CLIENT,JACKSON

UNRAVELING THE ORIGINS AND SPREAD OF COVID-19: FROM WUHAN'S MARKETS TO GLOBAL PANDEMIC:

The COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented global health crisis, began its ominous journey in late 2019, emanating from the bustling city of Wuhan, China.

1)ORIGIN OF COVID-19:

According to reports the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China was most likely the epicenter for the coronavirus. It is believed to have been a primary site where the virus gained early prominence within China before subsequently spreading globally at a rapid pace. The researchers determined that the earliest COVID-19 cases were centered at the market among vendors who sold live animals or people who shopped there. Dr. Michelle Baker, an immunologist at CSIRO who studies viruses in bats, says “There’s some sort of connection [to the Wuhan market] ” A study posted in February 2022 in Journal Science says that “ although the “exact circumstances remain obscure,” the virus was probably present in live animals sold at the market”. The researchers said that the earliest COVID-19 cases (eight cases before 20th December) were from the western side of the market, where mammal species were selling. On the hypothesis that the virus has emerged at the Huanan Seafood Market or not , Prof Stanley Perlman, a leading immunologist at the University of Iowa and an expert on previous coronavirus outbreaks that have stemmed from animals, said that the idea of the link to the Wuhan market is coincidental “cannot be ruled out” but that possibility “seems less likely” because the genetic material of the virus had been found in the market environment, Professor Stephen Turner, head of the Department of microbiology at Melbourne’s Monash University, said :

“I don’t think it’s conclusive by any means” Part of the problem is that the information is only as good as the surveillance, “he said viruses of this type are circulating all the time in the animal kingdom. Analysis of the first 41 COVID-19 patients in medical journals found that 27 had direct exposure to the Wuhan market. However, the same analysis found that the first known case of the illness did not have direct exposure. The researchers suggest that the first animal-to-human virus transmission probably happened around November 18, 2019. Some studies suggest that the virus might have originated in bats and could have been transmitted to humans through an intermediate host, potentially including pangolins. Prof Stephen Turner said that the virus was transmitted through bats. Professor Perlman told Guardian Australia he does believe there was an intermediary animal but adds that while pangolins are possible candidates, they “are not proven to be the key intermediary”. But the fact is that the exact origins of COVID-19 are still under investigation in the scientific community . The specific animal source of the virus is still uncertain.

2)SPREAD OF COVID_19

The spread of COVID-19 from Wuhan to the rest of the world primarily occurred through human-to-human transmission. The virus was highly contagious and spread easily through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughed, sneezed, talked, or even breathed. Several factors contributed to its rapid global

spread:

REASONS:

a) TRAVEL:

Wuhan is a major transportation hub, and during the early stages of the outbreak, before strict measures were implemented, infected individuals traveled domestically and internationally, carrying the virus to other regions and countries.

b) ASYMPTOMATIC SPREAD OF COVID-19:

COVID-19 can be spread by individuals who show no symptoms or have mild symptoms, making it challenging to identify and isolate cases early. Due to this reason, individuals were not properly identified and they traveled domestically and internationally, carrying the virus to other regions and countries.

c)DELAYED RESPONSE:

In the initial stages of the outbreak, there were challenges in recognizing the severity of the situation and implementing effective containment measures like lockdowns. This delay allowed the virus to spread further across China and also in the whole world.

3)COVID-19 WAS DECLARED A PANDEMIC:

COVID-19 spread rapidly within a relatively short period after it was first identified in December 2019. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a global pandemic. Within a matter of months, the virus had reached numerous countries around the world and had infected millions of people.

4)CATASTROPHE OF COVID -19:

The impact of COVID-19 was felt by every country and every person. COVID didn't just affect some aspects of human life; it affected almost every aspect of human life. It had affected social, economic, education, health (physical, psychological), and nearly every aspect of human life. There was a constant state of fear. No one was feeling safe inside their houses. Firstly, it was said that COVID-19 is only affecting the elderly but it was wrong. Young doctors, children healthy and fit athletes have died due to COVID. Hence COVID-19 was affecting everyone.

5)MOST AFFECTED COUNTRIES:

a) CHINA:

Although China does not come in the category of the most affected country, but China was the first country to experience an outbreak of the disease, the first to impose drastic measures in response to the deadly virus (including lockdowns , face mask mandates, etc.). Based on a retrospective analysis published in The Lancet in late January, the first confirmed patient started experiencing symptoms on 1 December 2019, the outbreak went unnoticed until 26 December 2019, when Zhang Jixian, director of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Hubei Xinhua Hospital, noticed a cluster of patients with pneumonia of unknown origin, several of whom had connections to the Huanan S eafood Market in Wuhan. She subsequently alerted the hospital, as well as municipal and provincial health authorities, which issued an alert on 30 December. Results from patient samples obtained on 29–30 December indicated the presence of a novel coronavirus, related to SARS. Within three weeks of the first known cases, the government built sixteen large mobile hospitals in Wuhan and sent 40,000 medical staff to the city. Although China was the first country who become a victim of the novel coronavirus, it was

also one of the first countries to bring the outbreak under control.

b) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

In the United States, coronavirus disease has resulted in 103,436,829 confirmed cases with 1,144,877 all-time deaths, the most of any country. The COVID-19 pandemic ranks first on the list of disasters in the United States by death toll; it was the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer. The first American case was reported on January 20, and President Donald Trump declared the U.S. outbreak a public health emergency on January 31. Restrictions were placed on flights arriving from China, but the initial U.S. response to the pandemic was otherwise slow, in terms of preparing the healthcare system, stopping other travel, testing, etc. The first known American deaths occurred in February. On March 6, 2020, Trump allocated $8.3 billion to fight the outbreak and declared a national emergency on March 13. The government also purchased large quantities of medical equipment to assist hospitals . A second wave of infections began in June, following relaxed restrictions in several states, leading to daily cases surpassing 60,000. By mid -October, a third surge of cases began; there were over 200,000 new daily cases during parts of December 2020 and January 2021. A fourth rise in infections began in March 2021 amidst the rise of the Alpha variant, a more easily transmissible variant first detected in the United Kingdom. That was followed by a rise of the Delta variant, an even more infectious mutation first detected in India.c)INDIA:

The first cases of COVID-19 in India were reported on 30 January 2020 in three towns of Kerala, among three Indian medical students who had returned from Wuhan, which was the epicenter of the pandemic . Lockdowns were announced in Kerala on 23 March, and in the rest of the country on 25 March. Infection rates started to drop in September . Daily cases peaked in mid-September with over

90,000 cases reported per day, dropping to below 15,000 in January 2021. A second wave beginning in March 2021 was much more devastating than the first, with shortages of vaccines, hospital beds, oxygen cylinders , and other medical supplies in parts of the country . By late April, India led the world in new and active cases. On 30 April 2021, it became the first country to report over 400,000 new cases in 24 hours.

According to Indian government figures, India has the second -highest number of confirmed cases in the world (after the United States of America) with 45,001,764 reported cases of COVID-19 infection, and the third-highest number of COVID-19 deaths (after the United States and Brazil) at 533,298 deaths. In October 2021, the World Health Organization estimated 4.7 million deaths, both directly and indirectly related to COVID-19 to have taken place in India. The people used to perform cremation in car parking because graveyards were full. An emotional video also went viral on the internet when a father was struggling and gasping for breath, mother was forbidding her daughter not to go near her father. The daughter wanted to give water to her father but the mother forbade her by saying “Stay away from him, otherwise you will also be affected”. Delhi, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad were the most affected areas of the country. According to reports political and religious activities become the reason for mass catastrophe in India .

d)FRANCE:

The COVID-19 pandemic in France has resulted in 38,997,490 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 167,985 deaths.

The virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. The first five confirmed cases were all individuals who had recently arrived from China. A Chinese tourist who was admitted to hospital in Paris on 28 January 2020, died on 14 February 2020, becoming the first known COVID -19 fatality outside Asia as well as the first in France . A key event in the spread of the disease across metropolitan France as well as its overseas territories was the annual assembly of the Christian Open-Door Church between 17 and 24 February 2020 in Mulhouse which was attended by about 2,500 people, at least half of whom are believed to have contracted the virus .e) BRAZIL:

The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil has resulted in 37,519,960 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 702,116 deaths. COVID-19 was confirmed to have spread to Brazil on 25 February 2020, when a man from S?o Paulo who had traveled to Italy tested positive for the virus. The disease had spread to every federative unit of Brazil by 21 March. On 19 June 2020, the country reported its one-millionth case and nearly 49,000 reported deaths. There was 22.62% of total reported COVID-19 mortality in 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a variety of responses from federal, state , and local governments, having an impact on politics, education, the environment, and the economy. On 27 March 2020, Brazil announced a temporary ban on foreign air travelers and most state governors have imposed quarantines to prevent the spread of the virus. President Jair Bolsonaro has perpetuated conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19 treatments and its origins and was accused of downplaying effective mitigations and pursuing a strategy of herd immunity. In October 2021, a congressional panel recommended criminal charges against the president for his handling of the pandemic, including crimes against humanity. Brazil was having third-highest number of confirmed cases and second-highest death toll from COVID-19 in the world, after the United States and India.

d)GERMANY:

The COVID-19 pandemic in Germany has resulted in 38,437,756 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 174,979 deaths. On 27 January 2020, the first case in Germany was confirmed near Munich, Bavaria. On 25 and 26 February , multiple

cases related to the Italian outbreak were detected in Baden-Württemberg. A

carnival event on 15 February in Heinsberg, North Rhine -Westphalia, was attended by a man identified as positive, on 25 February; an outbreak which subsequently developed from infected participants, authorities were mostly no longer able to trace the likely chains of infections on 9 March, the first two deaths in Germany were reported from Essen and Heinsberg. New clusters were introduced in other regions via Heinsberg as well as via people arriving from China, Iran, and Italy. German states mandated school and kindergarten closures, closed the border to Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, postponed academic semesters, prohibited visits to nursing homes to protect the elderly and curfews were imposed in six German states while other states prohibited physical contact with more than one person from outside one's household .

e) ITALY:

Italy was the first Western country with a wide spread of COVID-19. The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2020, when two Chinese tourists in Rome tested positive for the virus. One week later an Italian man repatriated to Italy from the city of Wuhan, China, was hospitalized and confirmed as the third case in Italy. Clusters of cases were later detected in Lombardy and Veneto on 21 February. On 31 January, the Italian government suspended all flights to and from China and declared a state of emergency. On 11 March 2020, the government prohibited nearly all commercial activity except for supermarkets and pharmacies In May, many restrictions were gradually eased. But in October, Italy was hit by the second w ave of the pandemic. During the peak of the pandemic, Italy's number of active cases was one of the highest in the world In March 2021, a new report was published that detected an excess mortality of

100,526 deaths in 2020, which was the highest number of deaths since 1945 when Italy was fighting in World War II on its soil. Italy was ranked as the fourth country in terms of experiencing a substantial number of COVID -related fatalities. After seeing the catastrophe of COVID-19 steps were taken by the government to limit the spread of the virus. Penalties for violations of rules range from a €206 fine to three months of imprisonment. The Italian military and law enforcement agencies were instructed to secure and implement the lockdown. Schools were closed, and all public and religious events and commercial activities open to the public were halted or were allowed to resume only until 6 pm. Regional train services to the most affected areas were suspended. Supermarkets in Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna were emptied by customers as residents stockpiled food and supplies Streets, parks, and train stations in multiple cities in Lombardy were left deserted. Major companies such as IBM, Enel, Luxottica, PricewaterhouseCoopers , and Vodafone continued to allow remote work by employees .

6)OTHER COUNTRIES:

Other countries were also not safe from the attacks of COVID -19. South Korea had 34571,873 cases and 35,934 estimated deaths .

Japan (+Diamond Princess) had 33,804,284 estimated cases and 74,707 reported deaths. The United Kingdom had 24,812,58 estimated cases and 232,112 reported deaths. Russia had 23,430,629 reported cases and 23,430,629 deaths. Turkey had 17,232,066 estimated cases and 102,174 reported deaths. Spain had 13,914,811 estimated cases and 121,760 reported deaths. Australia had 11,707,281 reported cases and 22,984 reported deaths. Vietnam had 11,624,114 reported cases and

43,206 reported cases. You can verify the details or explore further about countries impacted by COVID-19 on Worldometer.

7)ECONOMY IN CORONA:

COVID-19 was also having drastic effects on the economy.

STOCK MARKET:

On 20 February 2020, stock markets worldwide suddenly crashed after growing instability due to the COVID -19 pandemic. Global stock markets experienced their worst crash since 1987 . During the crash, the global stock market had multiple severe daily drops. There were two significant dates of crashes in the stock markets, one being 9 March, named 'Black Monday, and the other on 12 March, named 'Black Thursday'. Although the largest drop was on 16 March, named as 'Black Monday. To deal with the panic, banks and reserves across the world cut their interest rates, bank rates , and cash flow rates, as well as offering unprecedented support to investors and markets. On 26 February, stock markets worldwide finished with mixed records. On April,7,2020, the stock market was restored.

TRADE IN CORONA:

During the COVID -19 pandemic, global trade faced significant challenges due to various restrictions imposed to co ntrol the spread of the virus. Quarantine measures, health checks, limited transportation, and other options taken by governments, affected global trade to a greater extent. Some countries introduced export restrictions on critical goods such as medical supplies and food items to ensure domestic availability. Due to these restrictions global trade was affected.

ECONOMIC DAMAGES TO COUNTRIES:

In the first three months of 2020 , the G20 economies fell up to 3.4 percent. Just imagine if COVID can cause such damage to world great economies, how disastrous it can be to third-world countries. The COVID -19 had a catastrophic impact on the world. The world will never forget decreased business in the services sector during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the 2020 stock market crash (which included the largest single-week stock market decline since the financial crisis of 2007 –2008), global supply chain crisis, panic buying, price gouging. The pandemic was also a factor in the 2021–2022 global energy crisis and 2022 food crises. The world had struggled a lot in restoring their economies and many countries have succeeded in restoring their economies.

8)MIS INFORMATION DURING COVID-19:

Miss information regarding the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic its origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease was spread through social media, text messaging, and mass media. Several religious groups have claimed that their faith will protect them from the virus . Without evidence, some people have claimed the virus is a bioweapon accidentally or deliberately leaked from a laboratory, or COVID-19 is a population control scheme or the result of a spy operation, or the side effect of 5G upgrades to cellular networks .

Many people used to claim that a particular herb can be used as a preventive measure against COVID-19 or that certain herbs, medicines, or things can cure the virus but in reality, they were just mere claims devoid of reality. The most distressing thing was that fake news was propagated by celebrities, politicians, and other prominent public figures . Many countries have passed laws against this "fake news", and thousands of people have been arrested for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. Despite of this, various false theories were spread in different parts of the world regarding the COVID -19 vaccines. Anti-vaccination activists and other people in many countries have spread a variety of unfounded conspiracy theories and other misinformation about COVID -19 vaccines based on misunderstood or misrepresented science, religion, and law. These included exaggerated claims about side effect s, misrepresentations about how the immune system works and how COVID-19 vaccines are made, etc. Consequently, this led to a scenario where individuals showed reluctance towards vaccination. Due to this several governments have implemented mandatory vaccination requirements for jobs, tests, interviews, traveling, and social events like parties, marriages , etc. This strategy had worked for the governments.

9)WAS COVID BAD?

Despite the adverse effects of COVID-19, it also had notable positive effects on the environment. We all know that Nitrogen dioxide is a toxic gas that is emitted from the engines of cars, busses, trucks, factories , etc. and according to WHO (World Health Organization) if this gas is more than 200 micrograms per cubic meter then it can cause an enormous inflammation in your breathing pipe which can lead to problems like asthma. Now, due to lockdowns across the world, the number of cars plying on roads were reduced, and factories were shut down, resulting in a drastic reduction in the concentration of nitrogen dioxide worldwide. China, India (Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad) , Spain, the UK, and Italy had witnessed a drastic reduction in NO We all know that Particulate matter 2.5 or PM2.5 is one

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of the most harmful forms of air pollution. It is included in the category of group 1 carcinogen and it is so small that it can travel through the lungs into bloodstream which not only causes respiratory problems but also heart attacks and can also cause premature deaths. It is so deadly that the World Health Organization has estimated that every year, worldwide more than 4 million people are killed due to PM 2.5-caused heart diseases, strokes, chronic lung diseases (lung cancer ), and respiratory infections. Now due to lockdowns the concentration of PM 2.5 was drastically reduced particularly in China and in India. A scientist at Stanford University had done research regarding PM 2.5 mortality rates. He collected the data of PM 2.5 from different Chinese cities. In his study, he concluded that 77,000 people's lives were saved due to a decrease in air pollution (PM 2.5). No doubt it was a big thing, that only a reduction in PM 2.5, and only for one month had saved 77,000 people's lives. Dr P.K Mishra, an IIT Professor in BHU said that a 40-50 % improvement has been seen in the water quality of the Ganga . All of us are aware that carbon dioxide emissions are responsible for climate change . If we look at the data of where worldwide carbon dioxide emissions are emitted from, then we will notice that the transportation sector has a huge contribution to it. Due to the lockdown, the concentration of CO was greatly reduced worldwide. Therefore, we

2can conclude that while COVID-19 was detrimental to the economy, it had a positive impact on the environment .

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10)CONCLUSION:

COVID was a nightmare for the world, but it has taught great and valuable lessons to the world. We humans cannot survive lockdowns for such a short time, physical and mental health issues begin to arise in just a couple of months, what about Kashmir, where there is a lockdown for 365 days, how do people survive in Kashmir? The world has learned during the COVID how death is only in the hands of our creator _ Allah. Athletes and rich people died and poor, weak , and old people survived during COVID. World has learned the we should be prepared for such challenges and should take considerable steps to prevent epidemics or pandemics.