The World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic!
A pandemic is a disease that is spreading in multiple countries around the world at the same time.
The decision was made after the number of cases outside China saw a 13-fold increase over the past two weeks, with the coronavirus now reported in more than a hundred countries.
The WHO says countries are still expected to follow the same advice by the WHO on how to contain the spread.
Closer to home, health authorities are now tracking around 5 thousand locals who could have potentially been exposed to Covid-19 during a religious event at a mosque in Sri Petaling, KL over two weeks ago.
This is because a 53-year-old man from Brunei who attended the event has tested positive for the coronavirus.
As such, they are urging those who had attended the religious gathering between February 28 to March 1st, to get tested if they show symptoms for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, for those healthy people who still insist on wearing face masks, respiratory specialist Dr Kow Ken Siong says, please stop!
"Healthy people wearing them assume that they are protected when they are not. We should remind ourselves that Covid-19 is transmitted via droplets and is not airborne, so we cant actually breathe in the virus. If everyone in the streets is using the masks, this could lead to a potential shortfall in an item that that is already in short supply, and deprive our front-liners from getting the protection they need."
Meanwhile, 20 new Covid-19 cases have been reported, bringing the total number of positive infections in the country to 149.
A total of 26 people have been discharged from hospital.
Over in Australia, Hollywood star Tom Hanks has revealed on his instagram page that he and his wife Rita Wilson have tested positive for the virus.
Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive. Well, now. What to do next? The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks’ will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no? We’ll keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves! Hanx!
A post shared by Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) on
Keep up to date with the latest news and protect yourself against COVID-19!
By: Nicholas John
