The number of dead from the deadly virus already exceeds one thousand • World Health Organization chief Tadros Avanum Jibrasius: "This is a very serious threat to the world"
Indonesian civilians evacuate from Wahan // Photo: Reuters
The number of victims of the Corona virus crossed the symbolic threshold of 1000 on Tuesday, reaching 1018, after 109 patients died in China within 24 hours. This is the first time more than a hundred patients have died in one day. With the exception of one patient, who died in the Philippines, all those killed are from China and Hong Kong. The current number of infections currently stands at 43,141, with all but 400 patients in China.
New hospital in China prepares to receive coronary virus casualties // Photo: Reuters
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released the official name of the virus - COVID-19. In fact, this is an acronym for Corona Virus 2019. The organization's CEO, Tadros Avanum Jibrasius, said it was important to avoid stigmas and that other names for the virus were inaccurate. "We had to find a name that did not refer to geographic location, animal, person or group of people. ", he said.
Jibrissius also added that the outbreak of the virus posed "a very serious threat to the rest of the world." He said a first anti-virus vaccine might be available in 18 months, "so we should do as much as possible with our weapons." He noted that any contagious virus "can lead to more powerful consequences than any terrorist act. If the world does not want to wake up and treat the virus as the No. 1 public enemy, then I think we have not learned our lessons."
In the meantime, the UK has revealed the identity of someone dubbed the "super distributor", the person who infected at least 11 people with the virus after returning from Singapore. 53-year-old Steve Walsh told Sky News that he had fully recovered from the virus, having been diagnosed with the virus in Brighton City. Walsh contracted the virus during a business conference in Singapore, and from there he flew to a French ski resort there, unknowingly, five British, five French and one Spanish citizen. Walsh said that "my thoughts are with the other contractors."
The number of infections in Vietnam has risen to 15, with one of the new infections being a 3-month-old baby. The 13th patient was located in the United States, in the city of San Diego, California.
