abandonconflict
Well-Known Member
This graphic makes it pretty obvious that even a top-down ultra-authoritarian regime with extreme controls on every aspect of society like PRC can't stop the spread of this thing. A few cases becomes many cases because it spreads for days before symptoms show. Draconian measures such as shutting down entire metropolitan areas have done very little to slow the spread of this thing within China. It is apparently slowing international spread though, which is good. One thing that worries me is that it has spread to Xinjiang which is very likely linked to other countries on the Eurasian Steppe via unregulated and ancient trade routes. If it gets to Afghanistan, I doubt it will be identified before it spreads. Likewise if any Chinese traveler went to a poor Caribbean country like Dominican Republic which has not had to deal with something like this before, it may be already spreading.
A case was quickly identified in West Africa. The authorities there are well prepared as they have been containing a series of Ebola outbreaks for years.