Virus is opportunity to protect public

Few will forget the sense of global concern when, in 2003, a mysterious virus killed nearly 800 people. The SARS virus – a type of coronavirus that originated in rural China but spread to 37 countries – was to blame. So naturally concern has greeted the emergence of a new virus with SARS-like qualities in the Arabian Peninsula. As The National reported, a 73-year-old Emirati man was pronounced dead in a German hospital last week after being airlifted there for treatment. First treated at hospital in Abu Dhabi, the man is believed to have contracted the disease while in Saudi Arabia. He was the 17th case reported in recent weeks, and the 11th to die of the illness. Health experts in the UAE are urging residents not to panic after this recent death, and they are right to do so. Global pandemics are exceedingly rare; despite globalisation the world has thankfully not...