2019 novel Coronavirus — no need to panic

Islamabad: To date, public sector hospitals in the region including Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and three teaching hospitals in Rawalpindi have received not a single suspect of illness associated with 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and according to health experts, people should not have fear of the infection in the existing situation.

It is important that after the reports of pandemic of 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and consistently increasing number of deaths due to the virus in a number of countries, there is great panic among general public in the region though experts term it illogical.

Of course, a number of patients particularly those suffering from flu or respiratory tract infections have expressed fear of contracting illness associated with 2019-nCoV though they do not have any link with any person returning from China where in early January 2020, the first cases of pneumonia associated with the virus were detected from Wuhan city, Hubei Province of China, said Deputy Director at PIMS Dr. Waseem Ahmed Khawaja while talking to ‘The News’ on Sunday.

He added there is no need to panic instead people should follow proper hygiene and keep themselves and the environment in which they are living clean. People must have trust in God and should not pay heed to rumours unnecessarily as the situation in Pakistan is well under control, he said.

The Executive Director at PIMS Dr. Ansar Maqsood when contacted by ‘The News’ on Sunday said the PIMS has received not a single suspect of 2019-nCoV associated illness so far. We have supportive medication for coronavirus patients like that of a number of viral infections so people should not get panicky particularly when not a single case of infection has so far been confirmed in the country, he said.

Also people must understand that 98 per cent of patients having illness associated with 2019-nCoV achieve complete cure in two to three weeks and in only two percent patients, the symptoms may lead to pneumonia or severe complications that may or may not be deadly, he said.

In a number of cases, the 2019-nCoV related illness is self-limiting like many viral illnesses and hence, the fear among general public about the disease can be termed as illogical, said Dr. Ansar.