Coronavirus has officially been declared as a pandemic by the WHO and here's all you should know about it!
| Mar 12, 2020, 10:52 IST
It was only recently that the coronavirus outbreak took the world by storm with an appalling number of people falling prey to the virus. And just when we thought things were getting better and the virus was possibly being contained, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse. As per the latest news, the coronavirus has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The virus has spread to over 114 countries and the governments of various countries have started taking various precautions to limit the spread even further. Italy has tightened its quarantine levels and the US has now even imposed a ban on flights to Europe. "We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. "We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear."
For those uninitiated, a pandemic is something that has nothing to do with the severity of an illness but is proclaimed as such due to the spread of the illness beyond expectations. It basically refers to the virus causing community-level outbreaks on different continents. The last time the WHO declared a pandemic was in 2009 during the H1N1 flu.
In very recent news, Hollywood star Tom Hanks also put up a post stating that he and his wife tested positive for the virus. The duo is now in isolation in a hospital on Australia's Gold Coast.
It's no secret that the virus isn't showing signs of slowing down but that doesn't mean you can't take all the precautions possible to deter it. Some things you can do are: Wear a mask whenever you're travelling so that you don't accidentally cough or sneeze on someone else, make sure to keep your hands clean at all times and carry a sanitiser with you everywhere. Do not touch your face, eyes, mouth and nose with your hands as this can spread the virus. Try not to go to crowded places for a while and if you must, make sure that you try and keep at least one arm distance from everybody.
Follow these tips and stay tuned for more updates.
The virus has spread to over 114 countries and the governments of various countries have started taking various precautions to limit the spread even further. Italy has tightened its quarantine levels and the US has now even imposed a ban on flights to Europe. "We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. "We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear."
For those uninitiated, a pandemic is something that has nothing to do with the severity of an illness but is proclaimed as such due to the spread of the illness beyond expectations. It basically refers to the virus causing community-level outbreaks on different continents. The last time the WHO declared a pandemic was in 2009 during the H1N1 flu.
In very recent news, Hollywood star Tom Hanks also put up a post stating that he and his wife tested positive for the virus. The duo is now in isolation in a hospital on Australia's Gold Coast.
It's no secret that the virus isn't showing signs of slowing down but that doesn't mean you can't take all the precautions possible to deter it. Some things you can do are: Wear a mask whenever you're travelling so that you don't accidentally cough or sneeze on someone else, make sure to keep your hands clean at all times and carry a sanitiser with you everywhere. Do not touch your face, eyes, mouth and nose with your hands as this can spread the virus. Try not to go to crowded places for a while and if you must, make sure that you try and keep at least one arm distance from everybody.
Follow these tips and stay tuned for more updates.