'Coronavirus not as deadly as other viruses'

KARACHI: Coronavirus is highly infectious, but it is not as deadly as some other viruses, said Dr Asma Nasim, associate professor of Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation's (SIUT) infectious diseases department.

She was speaking at a conference held on the novel coronavirus at SIUT on Wednesday.

Dr Nasim said that these viruses are known to adapt from animals to the human population, pointing out that the new coronavirus had emerged from a live animal market and then spread from person to person. "Since this is a new virus for which there is no vaccine, the world fell into the grip of panic," she commented.

Dr Sunil Dodani, another associate professor in the department, showed the epidemiological curve of the disease, which shows that the number of cases is now decreasing. He highlighted that there had been 71,429 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 1,775 deaths, of which 98 per cent were in China, until February 18.

Professor Shehla Baqi discussed preventive measures for the virus and the importance of hand hygiene. "Hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, and droplet and airborne precautions are the only way to prevent the spread of the virus," she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2020.