Coronavirus is probably the most dangerous pandemic the world has witnessed since the turn of the century. Sure, the viruses like Ebola claimed more lives, but their spread had never been so far and wide. As per the report by CNN, COVID19 (official name of the virus) has reached more than 100 countries in the world, with the most chronic one being China, the origin of the virus. Out of the 120,000 positive cases and 4,200 deaths globally, more than 81,000 cases and 3,200 deaths have been in China alone.
Wuhan City is believed to be the source of the virus, and it has been under quarantine for several weeks now. About fifteen cities, including Wuhan, had been placed under quarantine in China since the early days of the outbreak, while Italy, the second-worst affected country, imposed a quarantine on 16 million people living in the 14 northern provinces, including Venice, Modena, Alessandria, and Lombardy. While the World Health Organization (WHO) or the United Nations hasn’t declared COVID19 as a pandemic, the threats that the virus is posing could be devastating and need a concerted effort from all the major superpowers to eradicate the virus and eliminate its ill-effects.
The crypto industry is one of the those that are likely to get severely affected by the epidemic, and some of those effects have already started to become apparent. Nonetheless, major crypto companies, especially those that have Chinese origins, are making continuous efforts towards fighting the disease.
Binance, in particular, has been leading the charge in supplying essential aid to the affected regions in China. As soon as the gravity of the virus become apparently severe, Binance vowed to distribute over 70,000 protective masks to the vulnerable population in collaboration with the Chinese Corps. As on February 23, Binance Charity, the philanthropic arm of the network, had delivered 50,000 pairs of nitrile gloves, 100,000 pairs of latex gloves, 100,000 pairs of PVC gloves, 28,000 masks, 9 sterilizers, 173 barrels of disinfectant liquid, 20,000 testing kits, and 1,000 protective suits to 116 hospitals in Hubei, Guangxi, and Shanghai.
As per the Phase 2 report published by Binance on Monday, it has delivered six new batches of medical supplies to about 130 hospitals, medical teams, and emergency disease control command centers. These supplies are a part of the “Binance for Wuhan” project, and most of the aid has been to the worst affected city. The report stated,
Around 2,300 protective suits bought from Israel have been distributed to 23 hospitals or medical teams. 1,000 protective suits bought from the United Arab Emirates have been distributed to 16 hospitals or medical teams. We also donated 388 oxygen machines to Guangdong Zhong Nanshan Medical Foundation. All of the items are distributed to 44 hospitals. In addition, we distributed 133,000 pieces of PVC gloves and 10,000 pairs of protective goggles.
Apart from Binance, several other major players in the crypto industry are playing their part in ramping up the fight against COVID19. TRON Foundation, for instance, has been also working to provide essential medical supplies to the affected regions. Qtum Chain, on the other hand, donated 20,000 Yuan to the victims of the deadly, as per the latest cryptocurrency news.
However, more than anything else, the industry is doing a great bit in creating awareness regarding Coronavirus, and at a time when a flood of misinformation has plagued social media, providing correct information is an impactful service. Many leading companies like Coinbase, Binance, TRON, Huobi Global, etc. are tracking the developments at ground zero, and passing on authentic information to the community. Also, as a protective measure for their employees, crypto companies in affected regions have asked their employees to work from home and are also providing all the necessary help they need.
The epidemic is now on the verge of being declared a pandemic, and the way things are getting bad to worse in Europe and North America is an extremely bad sign for global financial markets, which themselves are bleeding from the past couple of months. India, another important market for the crypto-blockchain industry, recorded its 50th positive test case on Wednesday, and many of which are Bangalore’s techies, causing temporary shutting down of a couple of big IT parks.
Being a blockchain booming region, South, South East, and East Asian countries are extremely important strategically for the crypto industry, and here’s where COVID19 has hit the most. Therefore, it is only logical for companies to do every bit they can to fight the virus and restore normalcy in these regions.