Coronavirus update: Covid-19 death toll rises to 1,368

China's coronavirus outbreak may be contained by April.
China exports to India goods worth $70 billion including electrical machinery, nuclear machinery, medical instruments, vehicles and accessories to steel.

The novel coronavirus outbreak has so far claimed 1,368 lives while 5,963 affected people have recovered from the disease. According to the latest date, 60,310 confirmed cases were reported across the world. There are 52,979  active cases currently of which 8,243 are in a critical stage. Only two people have died of the disease outside China — one each in Hong Kong and The Philippines.

Kerala to discharge one patient

One of the three Covid-19 patients in Kerala will be discharged on Thursday, but will be quarantined till February 26. The decision was taken after the patient was cleared by the National Institute of Virology in Pune. Kerala accounted for all three Covid-19 cases reported in India. The three were students who returned from Wuhan in China, where the outbreak was first detected.

WHO to bring Covid-19 scorecard

World Health Organisation will rank countries affected by Covid-19 on the level of severity of the outbreak, Indian express newspaper quoted WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan as saying. WHO’s Covid-19 data platform will cover 24 countries and working on a score card on the basis of clinical severity of the outbreak.

WHO names the disease Covid-19

The disease caused by the novel coronavirus has a name now. The World Health Organization has named the disease Covid-19 following calls for name the virus infection that killed more than 1,000 people and infected several thousands. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged the world to fight the virus with all its might. The name coronavirus does not refer to the latest strain of viruses, but to the group it belongs to. the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses has named the virus SARS-CoV-2.

Covid-19 attacks the elderly, spares kids

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 43,000 people across the world, but very few of them are children. According to WHO officials a majority of infected people are above 40 years. According to Chinese government statistics, close to 80% of people who died of Covid-19 were above 60 years of age, while 75% had pre-existing medical problems. The death toll of the disease has already surpassed that of the SARS outbreak in 2003. There are very few confirmed infections among children. A study by medical journal The Lancet says the average age of the coronavirus patients is around 55.

Outbreak may be under control by April

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the first Covid-19 vaccine is 18 months away and the world must treat the virus as enemy number one. News reports quoted an unnamed Chinese official as saying that the deadly virus will be under control by April this year. The world economy is facing a big crisis after the second largest economy came under the attack of the deadly virus. The outbreak has savaged China’s economy with a large number of companies struggling to survive and many of them are already laying off workers.

Fresh air may reduce coronavirus risk

Keeping the door and windows open may reduce the risk of coronavirus infection, The Strait Times quoted a Singapore health official as saying. Singapore’s chief health scientist Tan Chorh Chuan advised his countrymen to switch off air-conditioners and allow fresh air in to cut the risk of Covid-19 infection. Chances of the virus surviving outdoors was lower, he says. He said most studies conducted after the SARS outbreak in 2003 suggested that the virus may not be able to survive under hot and humid conditions.