The World Health Organization announced on Friday that it had raised the global risk level for the novel coronavirus to "very high".The move, it said, was not intended to create panic but remind countries to prepare for an impending outbreak.

In the era of globalization when the world is a community with a shared future, any emerging infectious disease is not just a regional problem, but also a global one. That may be why Microsoft founder Bill Gates said recently that the outbreak could be a "once-in-a-century pandemic" and that global leaders need to act without delay.

Human history is replete with instances of fights against infectious diseases but society's ability to cope with them has improved with time. The Red Cross was once an organization providing medical services to prisoners and others at the time of war. But during the 1918 global influenza pandemic that killed 50 million people, the Red Cross provided community medical services, emerging as a major global organization.

After the novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, China has played a leading role in preventing it from spreading globally. The WHO has praised China for building an epidemic defense line at great effort and cost. The efforts of Chinese enterprises and social organizations have helped not only China but also the world.

For example, Fosun International has been assisting countries such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Italy with emergency deployment of resources. It has so far set up 12 anti-epidemic working groups, 10 of them in China.

The Chinese government and enterprises such as Fosun International, Alibaba and organizations such as Han Hong Love Charity Foundation are cooperating with the world to fight the epidemic. With such forces at work, the novel coronavirus outbreak is unlikely to go down in history as one matching the 1918 pandemic in magnitude.

21ST CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD