FEAR MORE HARMFUL THAN CORONAVIRUS, SAYS SINGAPORE PM

The new coronavirus is similiar to SARS, but with two important differences. First, the new
virus is more infectious than SARS. Therefore it is harder to stop it from spreading. Second, the new
virus is much less dangerous than SARS. About 10% of those who caught SARS died. With the new
virus, outside of Hubei province, the mortality rate is so far only 0.2%. In comparison, seasonal
influenza has a death rate of 0.1%. so in terms of mortality, the new virus is much closer to influenza
than SARS. Fear and anxiety are natural human reactions. We all want to protect ourselves and our
families from what is still a new and unknown disease. But fear can do more harm than the virus
itself. It can make us panic, or do things which make matters worse like circulating rumours online,
hoarding facemasks or food, or blaming particular groups for the outbreak. Instead, we should take
courage and see through this stressful time together

WHO GIVES OFFICIAL NAME FOR NOVEL CORONAVIRUS DISEASE AS COVID-19

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (WHO director-general) :”We now have a name for the disease it is
COVID-19”

How is it named?

Soumya Swaminathan (WHO chief scientist) : “It stands for corona-C O, V I is virus and D is disease
and 19 is because it was first found in 2019. There are some principles that we use for classification
and naming of new diseases. So, some of the prinsiples are that the name of the disease should not
be about a geographic area, a city, a person o an animal. And it should not stigmatize anybody and it
should be easy to pronounce. It should not be confused with many other names and there should be
a logic. So we thought that it is a self-explanatory name. It’s easy to say an pronounce. It is easy for
the future also if we have to name other diseases which are caused by coronavirus