EBOLA OUTBREAK AND EPIDEMIC IN 2014
Take your notes in your English notebook in the section dedicated to globalization.
1) Surf the Web and do some research into the Ebola outbreak and epidemic in 2014.
- What sort of disease is the Ebola Virus Disease?
- How is the Ebola Virus Disease transmitted?
- Where was the first suspected victim of Ebola Virus Disease located in 2014?
- What countries did the Ebola Virus Disease reach in 2014?
- How many people were infected and how many people died in 2014?
2) In March 2015, Bill Gates gave a TED Talk on preventing the next Ebola or similar outbreak. Watch the video and put the topics he discussed in order.
[ ] one positive thing that could come out of the Ebola epidemic
[ ] the most likely causes of a global catastrophe
[ ] the most likely causes of a global catastrophe
[ ] the progression of Ebola Virus Disease during 2014
[ ] the key missing pieces in the healthcare system during the Ebola epidemic in 2014
[ ] a possible response system to deal with a future infectious disease
[ ] the main problem during the Ebola outbreak in 2014
[ ] the progression of a virus which spread through the air in 1918
[ ] the main problem during the Ebola outbreak in 2014
[ ] the progression of a virus which spread through the air in 1918
3) Answer the following 10 questions.
According to Bill Gates,
1. what is the most likely cause of a global catastrophe?
1. what is the most likely cause of a global catastrophe?
2. why are not we ready for a future epidemic?
3. what was the main problem during the Ebola outbreak in 2014?
4. what were the key missing pieces in the healthcare system during the Ebola epidemic in 2014?
5. what evidences does he mention to support his statements?
6. what is one of the limits of the World Health Organization (WHO)?
7. what are the three reasons why the Ebola Virus Disease did not spread more?
8. what are the advantages we have today in terms of science and technology?
9. what are the kinds of things we need in order to deal with an epidemic?
10. what are the main benefits of such investments?
Watch the video again and check.
4) Bill Gates stated that the World Bank estimated that if we had a worldwide flu epidemic, global wealth would go down by over three trillion dollars and we would have millions and millions of deaths. What are the current data about losses and deaths caused by Covid-19 epidemic so far?
5) In your opinion, were we ready for the Covid-19 epidemic? Why? Why not? Leave your personal comment in the comment box. Remember to choose "anonymous" as an identity, but write your name and the initial of your surname before starting to write.
Fabio B.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, it has to be said that roughly neither of the world's countries were prepared for such a tragic event.
Personally, analysing Italy's current situation, I can't deny that it just has to be the outcome of the various cuts in healthcare: but other than that, a global pandemic has always been underrated if we take a look at our recent past.
Anyway, even in such a different time for our country, we as a united population have to prove our stereotypes wrong: by respecting the rules all together and helping the healthcare system, we will rise through the "dirt" and the finish line will be closer than ever.
Irene M.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think that the World wasn't prepared for such a tragic event. The speech of Bill Gates has been made just 5 years ago, and in my opinion institutions have understimated his words.
This global pandemic doesn't seem real even now that we're living it, let alone imagine it 5 years ago.
However, Italy as the world have been quite reactive to take emergency measures, in order to contain the growth of infections.
I hope that everyone will be carefull until the end of this pandemic, playing its part, with the hope of being able to return to normality as soon as possible.
Personally I think that Italy, like the whole world, wasn’t ready at all for the COVID-19 and this is also demonstrated by the many mistakes that governments and people in general did. In fact, at the beginning we underestimated the virus and we adopted very little precautions to prevent the spread of the infection. We started to understand how much the situation was dramatic and to adopt stringent measures when many, too many people were infected and the number of deaths was increasing rapidly. In Italy, an example which show this, is the fact that even thought we knew what was happening in China we didn’t start to get the masks and all the necessary equipments and so when we need them we didn’t have them.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to this in a first time we focused almost exclusively to the fact that the fatality rate wasn’t very high and we stated that this virus was little more dangerous than a cold.
In conclusion it can be said that we incorrectly evaluated COVID-19 and we didn’t think at all about the many risks that it could have caused. For instance the collapse of the health system wasn’t considered at all and it was, in fact, what happened almost everywhere in the world.
BC
Paula G.
ReplyDeleteWhen the COVID-19 virus spread in Italy, few people believed it, including me. Immediately after, however, fear and difficulties arrived.
In fact, in this period we are experiencing a rough patch at a global level because health systems are not equipped enough with trained personnel and machinery to cope with the expansion of the virus.
Besides, the consequences led to financial and personal trouble of the people. Without work, the economy does not go on and without the economy people cannot survive, especially in the less developed countries.
So I think that we are not prepared to face the epidemic and that people and governments will continue to make mistakes and lose numerous human beings and money, because we never learn from the mistakes of the past.
Personally I think that the World, unfortunately, wasn’t prepared for this pandemic due to different reasons.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all every country was not equipped correctly to fight this inconvenience: in term of masks, gloves but also for the economics problems and the people reaction.
In addiction to this, I think that Italy government has adopted the right measures to overcome the pandemic, but in my opinion there are still too many people that think that this pandemic isn’t a problem for our lives and so they don’t follow the measures imposed.
In conclusion we can say that if we hadn’t underestimated the words said by Bill Gates, maybe we could have so many economics, social and health issues.
Because of the people that don’t respect the measures adopted, this period of quarantine will be longer.
CF
I think the World wasn't prepared to face up to a global pandemic like the COVID-19, which in a short time has made millions of victims and put the economy at risk.
ReplyDeletePeople underestimated the virus, they thought they wouldn't be infected, because the virus was too far away from us, rather than taking precautions about what was going on.
Bill Gates in 2014 explained where the main problems of our societies were to face up to a pandemic, such as the lack of doctors, nurses and hospital beds. During these years politicians could remedy these problems. But they ignored the warnings.
In conclusion we can say that people realized the problem too late, countries have done everything possible to try to contain the epidemic.
Now each of us must contribute to limit the spread of contagion and win this battle.
FS
Valentina B.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal opinion, none of us was ready to face the Covid-19 because we have understimate the instensity of this emergency.
In fact, a lot of people, including me, did not understand immediately that this virus wasn't just a danger for the citiziens of Wuhan, but it was/it is a problem for the entire world.
I think that it's not just our fault if we were not worried about the virus, but the fault belong the people that have decided to keep us to the dark about the real gravity of the situation and have told us to stay calm and move on with our lives normally.
But the important thing right now is that we know the problem and we are acting to solve it, and i'm pretty sure that we will rise again as we always do.
L.D.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, not only Italy, but every other country hit by this Covid outbreak, was not ready to face such an extreme situation.
And the main reason why it spread so quickly and so easily, is that most of these countries underestimated or totally ignored the real extent of this phenomenon.
In facts, it is not strange to see that big countries just like the U.S.A, the U.K., France, Spain and Italy are those where the Virus reaped most of its victims.
And focusing on Italy, it is very easy to state that old issues, like the lack of medical staff and equipment, due to several financial cuts, are finally "back to the surface", and once more underlined the bad organisation for which we're (in)famous worldwide.
In conclusion, what I think is that if we, the Western World, had helped China when it was necessary, instead of mocking them because of their controversial culinary habits, maybe now, we would be talking about a completely different situation.
In my opinion, none of us were ready to face this pandemic.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, it was an emergency that hit us very quickly, reason why there have been many mistakes by all. Over time our government has managed to take the right precautions to safeguard the safety of citizens. But despite this there are still people who are underestimating the emergency.
In the other hand the health system was/is not equipped enough, in fact there was/is not much staff and machinery to cover the entire emergency: it is the main reason that caused so many victims.
In conclusion, I hope that people really understand the situation and that with a little cooperation all this will end soon.
GM
In my opinion, no country in the world was ready to face a pandemic like the Covid-19. This is mainly due to the cuts on the healthcare system and to the delays in the implementation of the lockdown in many countries.
ReplyDeleteThe risk of a pandemic was real because the new weapons are biogical and Bill Gates in 2014 warned us on this possibilità.
On the other hand i think that, in general, the italian population has prouved his toughness and his unity in dealing whit this crisis.
D.C
Alessia R.
ReplyDeleteI think that as far as this pandemic is concerned the COVID-19 no State was and is prepared.
In my opinion, when the virus arrived in Italy, the severity of this was underestimated by many people.
Despite what was already happening in China, many countries have not given effective restrictions to be able to contain a minimum of contagion. For example, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson had said he would wait before giving restrictions and stopping the country.
But despite this, I believe that every State is working to ensure the safety of its country.
In conclusion, if each of us continues to follow those little rules, that are continually repeated by health care, people who are on front line, people who risk getting infected, the sooner we'll get back to our lives.
Erika S.
ReplyDeleteI think that as European people, we were not prepared for Covid-19 pandemic.
We have considerably underestimated this virus from the beginning and, because of this, there was an increase in contagion. People continued to carry on their daily activities unaware of the risks they were running.
Then this was the first problem : thousands and thousands of contagion.
Also the other big problem was the hospital issue. There were not enough machines to satisfy the needs of the sicks.
In addition, concerning the origin and cause of this virus, China did not give us all the truth about it, so we found ourselves unprepared and confused.
In conclusion we can deduce that the advice given by Bill Gates in 2015 were wise but unfortunately not heard and considered by the competent authorities.
In my opinion none of us expected this epidemic. I never expected a situation like this. But I think that several states of Europe and the world were enough ready to intervene.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, this virus is much more dangerous of other viruses because it is transmitted by air, and so it is easier to get sick. Another point which worsened this situation is that this virus it is very similar to the influence.
Secondly, all the people in the world are scandalized, they’re afraid and a lot of people are psychologically in a bad mood.
Now, fortunately, the situation seems to improve, but I think that none of us does not realize the danger we risk.
Finally, I think that this virus and this situation it changed our lives.
Alice A.
Greta F.
ReplyDeleteOne key question to ask ourselves about the current pandemic of COVID-19 is: were we ready or not?
We were warned this might happen because pandemics are not new and we should have been ready but unfortunately, in my opinion, the whole world was unprepared for such a tragedy.
In Italy, the unexpected pandemic of COVID-19 has caused a disaster in terms of hospitalizations and deaths, and people rightly panicked.
I think that lots of people considered the serious situation only when the pandemic begun to spread all over the world.
Fortunately after having realized the gravity of the situation everybody implemented the emergency measures but even now we live in a state of anxiety.
Sadly we can't say we're out of the woods but I really hope that everything works out as soon as possible.
Stefano G
ReplyDeleteAs a truly supporter of Italy, I personally think that we (as Italy) were ready for this emergency. The warnings from China had arrived and Italy was one of the few nations to believe since the beginning of this epidemic, unlike other nations that have underrated this emergency.
Our health system (one of the best in the world) has responded with great tenacity to Covid-19, treating and assisting the most needy people. Even the state has made its "appearance" as Shakespeare would say, in fact it has allocated billions of euros to deal with this epidemic.
We must admit, however, that this virus is not what we expected. The delayed total closure of the world’s States has allowed the virus to spread very quickly and causing all these deaths.
Federico D.P
ReplyDeletein my opinion, this epidemic wasn't expected, so I think that we weren't ready. In Europe, Italy was the first country that it had to beat the Covid-19. Even if Italy has one of the best medical system in the world, there weren't enough intensive care. There wasn't the possibility to heal all the people, so the doctors had to choose who they had to heal. And I personally think that it is a clear sign that we weren't ready.
Bill Gates in the conference in 2014 told all that we had to do to be ready for an hypothetical future epidemic. But we weren't enough clever to take all the necessary precautions to beat an hypothetical virus.
I hope that we will beat the Covid-19 and that this time, we will learn something from this catastrophic outbreak.
I think nobody would have imagined a pandemic like this that we are experiencing today.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all because nowadays we live in a highly advanced world in technology and in science, therefore it seems impossible that something so dangerous can be born and propagated without anyone being able to find a lasting solution.
Furthermore, thanks to history we have known the various pandemics and epidemics that have occurred over time and therefore we should have taken precautions for some time and devised plans to be activated in the first cases of viruses, but this has not been the case.
In fact, despite the fact that hospitals have been created in a few days, all the doctors and research centers have been put to work to fight Covid-19, we find ourselves in the utmost disorganization. This can be seen from how many states have underestimated the virus and now have thousands of deaths, moreover the only things that can at least partially protect us such as masks, gloves and disinfectant gels are difficult to find or have high costs.
Inesa K.
Robert Alexandru N.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, none of us were ready for the Covid-19 epidemic.
There are lots of holes in the management by the State, in lots of sectors, economic, of the healthcare, of education and also political. People don’t know what to do in this situation, because it must be analyzed, managed and controlled by different points of view and its not simple. There are people who are losing their job, students that have to stay at home, without the possibility to see their friends, to study in a different way, to change their routine. We were not ready for the Covid-19.
But I think we’re learning a lot from this drastic situation, because now we understand some important things, that can help us to ameliorate and to grow up and we have to exploit new opportunities and we have to learn what went wrong and the mistakes we have made in order to do not repeat them in the future.
Just as I would, many people contend that nobody was actually ready for what the COVID-19 pandemic has brought.
ReplyDeleteNo one would have expected the grief, the economic collapse, the isolation and the sense of loneliness that we are experiencing right now.
Italy was by no means ready to face a pandemic. Especially after all the cuts that the government has been made to italian healthcare in recent years.
However, it has to be said, that Italy dealt promptly with the emergency that occured in our country and I, as never before, have felt more proud of being italian.
RS
By January 2020, when news about a new Corona virus from China started to spread all around the globe, the world was not ready at all. We can affirm it today, about five months later the first registered cases on December 31 2019 in Huwan, by looking at the health data we are provided daily. To present, 4.4. billion is the number of confirmed cases and 302.000 the global deaths.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, we need to take into consideration the absolutely devastating impact of the pandemic on global economy.
The world stopped, or at least slowed down, due to the necessary lockdown in about 90 countries, and so did business and production activities. According to FMI data, Europe will see its GDP decreasing of about 7.5% in the second semester of 2020. Italy is the second country (after Greece only) with an expected loss of about 9% its gross domestic product this year.
We must say that our country in particular, acted promptly, despite all the initial doubts of population and authorities, too. Our health system is strong and valid, known worldwide. Still, we were missing lots of sanitary tools and personnel then and we still are. That’s definitely Italy’s biggest issue today, along with a lack of financial support.
In hindsight, many other things should have been implemented but, precisely, nobody expected such a devastating pandemic. All countries in the world, some more some less, are currently fighting COVID-19, but not only against the disease. They are also facing with a huge amount of health, social and economic problems, and they will have to do it for a long time to come.
YC