The number of people affected by coronavirus all over the globe is nearly touching the one lakh mark and the World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded high alert all over the world. According to the WHO, the risk of spreading of the disease is “very high” all over the world. However, in India all the recorded cases are “imported cases”, that is the affected people came from outside and there has been no report as yet of spreading of the disease.
According to a report of the WHO, the total number of coronavirus affected cases in the world as of yesterday was 93,090, of which, more than 80,000 cases were reported from China. About the death toll, the report said that more than 2900 persons died in China while, 214 died elsewhere.
The WHO has also issued a series of guidelines for the people to prevent the spreading of the disease and pointed out that if a person is not staying in an area where the disease is spreading or not travelled to such an area, the risk factor is very low.
The WHO guidelines said that a person should clean hands frequently with alcohol based hand rub or soap to kill germs. The WHO advised maintenance of social distance, that is, maintaining at least one meter distance from a person who is coughing or sneezing.
The WHO advisory said that one should avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth as hands can pick up the virus and once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to eyes, nose or mouth.
“Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately. Droplets spread virus. By following good respiratory hygiene you protect the people around you from viruses such as cold, flu and COVID-19”, the WHO advisory added. The WHO also suggested that if anyone has fever and cough or having difficulty in breathing, a doctor should be consulted immediately.
