It’s a deadly tale of two epidemics: SARS and Wuhan Coronavirus, both originating in China, about two decades apart. And both causing widespread panic around the world.
Where SARS only killed about 774 people officially between 2002-2004, Coronavirus has already overtaken that casualty number, claiming 780 lives in China, and over 800 around the world, as global health agencies fight hard to bring the virus spread under control.
Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping has stopped short of calling the Coronavirus spread a global pandemic, instead mentioning it as a “grave situation.” And he has every right to feel worried.
According to official reports, as of Friday the death toll number for people in China suffering from the Wuhan Coronavirus was at 724 — 50 short of the total number of dead during the SARS outbreak of the early 2000s.
But by Saturday, official reports pegged the total Coronavirus casualties within China at 780, and at least 805 around the world — surpassing the number of deaths resulting by SARS.
What’s even more worrying about the novel Coronavirus strain is that it has already infected over three times the number of people than SARS, which infected only 8098 people between November 2002 and July 2003.
Although the Wuhan Coronavirus has resulted in more deaths than SARS, its actual mortality rate is lesser than SARS — the Coronavirus has killed only 2% of people it has infected so far, while the SARS virus killed close to 9% of people it infected. The mortality rate in Wuhan for the Coronavirus is at 4%, which is still lesser than that of SARS.
reuters
However, many feel that these numbers aren’t accurate and that the real Coronavirus death toll has crossed over 24,589 people.
China’s second-largest conglomerate, Tencent accidentally displayed figures for the Coronavirus on
a Chinese website this past Saturday, which showed over 154,023 people
were infected by the virus and over 24,589 actually dead — which is
several times more than what the official Chinese state media has
reported till now. This
particular website also showed at least 78,808 people in the suspected
cases section — which is again multiple times more than the actual numbers.
India already has reported few people contracting Coronavirus strain, who are under quarantine at the moment. The disease spreads from human contact so for being safe from it,
personal hygiene is of utmost importance. Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika
(BMC) among other authorities across the nation has issued a set of
guidelines (which are identical to what WHO has been recommending) to
stay safe from the Wuhan Coronavirus.
In a major breakthrough that can lead to a quick Coronavirus vaccine,
a team of scientists led by an overseas citizen of India, Professor SS
Vasan of CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization) Dangerous Pathogens Team has successfully mass produced
the novel Coronavirus strain outside China in sufficiently large number
to begin clinical trial of medicine.