March 13, 2020

The novel coronavirus' rapid spread throughout the world brought with it a wave of panic and nativism, fueling a flurry of uncoordinated and chaotic responses from a rising number of countries led by the US, with restrictions on global travel and trade that are not only ineffective in addressing the world public health crisis but will also have serious economic and social ramifications for the highly globalized world for years after the pandemic, global organizations and analysts said on Friday.

The sweeping restrictions, which came despite the US' clear failure to stop the virus with its preemptive ban on visitors from China and in complete disregard for China's effective experience, further sowed chaos and panic throughout the world and highlighted loopholes and a serious deterioration in the global governance system, which has been battered by rising nationalism and protectionism over the past few years, and underscored the dire need for an efficient mechanism to coordinate response to global crises, in which China can play a larger role, analysts noted. 

Following the US' 30-day ban on visitors from 26 European countries on Wednesday, a slew of Latin America countries, including Argentina, Bolivia and Peru also moved on Thursday to impose various restrictions on travelers from dozens of countries including the US, China and Italy.

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