Coronavirus crisis: If 9/11 is a chapter, then COVID-19 is a whole book, says Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi, May 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the crisis of coronavirus would change the existing structure and order in the world. He further said that the deadly virus is operated at the healthcare global structure levels.

"If you look at the places which are most affected, they all are the nerve centres of globalisation. I am convinced that we will have a new world after this. People say 9/11 was a new chapter. Well, this is a new book," Gandhi said in an interaction on the COVID-19 crisis with global public healthcare expert Dr Ashish Jha and epidemiologist, professor Johan Geisecke of the Karolinska Institute, Sweden.

"I have a sense that large urban centres will be hurt badly. People will have to come together and realise that you can't fight this disease as different communities, different religions or different genders," Rahul Gandhi said in an interaction.

During the interaction with the former Congress president, Jha said that the only way to stop the spread of the virus is to increase the testing capacity. The Harvard University professor also dismissed reports that Indians are immune to the virus because of the vaccinations that they get.

"I am sceptical that BCG vaccine can act as mediator. There is very less evidence about that, I would not make a policy based on that evidence," professor Jha said.

The conversation, that is held by Rahul Gandhi is concerned with the coronavirus crisis and its consequences on the Indian economy.

Earlier, the Congress leader had spoken to Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee and former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan on the same.