Cold weather, snow cannot kill coronavirus – WHO

Tue, Feb 18, 2020
By publisher
2 MIN READ

Health

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned against the myth that cold weather and snow had the possibility of killing Coronavirus (COVID -19)

WHO gave the explanation on its official twitter handle @ WHO that cold weather and snow cannot kill COVID-19.

The UN health agency also said that ultraviolet disinfections lamps could not kill the virus.

It, however, assured that Covid-19 was not as deadly as other Coronaviruses.

The  Director-General of WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus said that  China had published new data on the virus to confirm the fact.

Ghebreyesus said that the data showed that the virus was not as deadly as previous coronaviruses including SARS and MERS

WHO chief said this should be interpreted with great caution because trends could change as new populations are affected.

“More than 94 per cent of all reported cases in China come from Hubei province.

“ The new cases reported are both clinically and lab-confirmed cases, it is too early to tell if the disease is slowing down,’’ he said.

Ghebreyesus, however, said that the Chinese data appeared to indicate that most people who become infected with Covid-19 disease would not die.

According to him, the fatality rate is about two per cent.

“More than 80 per cent of patients have mild disease and will recover. In about 14 per cent of cases, the virus causes severe disease, including pneumonia and shortness of breath.

“And about five per cent of patients have critical disease including respiratory failure, septic shock and multi-organ failure,” he said.

“Those most at risk are elderly people with underlying health conditions. He noted that relatively few children have become infected, a mystery that requires more research.’’

Ghebreyesus said that a team of 12 international experts was currently on ground in China, working with their Chinese counterparts.

Meanwhile, China’s National Health Commission says no fewer than 12,552 have recovered in Chinese mainland out of 72,528 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in that country.

China has recorded 1,870 deaths from the outbreak since December, 2019. (NAN)

– Feb. 18, 2020 @ 15:15 GMT |

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