The coronavirus that apparently originated from a seafood market in Wuhan has already killed more than 53,200 people worldwide. In the initial days of the Covid-19 outbreak, several medical experts revealed that this pathogen outbreak is not as dangerous as the seasonal flu which kills more than 60,000 people every year. However, when coronavirus started its killing spree, medical experts started rethinking, and they now understood that Covid-19 is deadlier than previously speculated.
Why is coronavirus more dangerous than the flu?
According to experts, human beings have no prior exposure to coronavirus, and it means we are not immune to the deadly pandemic. When the flu breaks out every year, most human beings do not face its heat, as we have battled it before.
"When the flu virus infects people who have already had flu, it reaches a dead end. They don't get sick, they don't pass it on. And they stop the virus in its tracks," Abigail Carlson, an infectious disease specialist at Washington University told Business Insider.
However, when it comes to coronavirus, all human beings are vulnerable to getting infected, as no one was previously exposed to the pathogen.
Carlson revealed that the number of people who get infected by coronavirus will be more when compared to the flu, but she made it clear that the mortality rate will be less.
"There's very little to no herd immunity. Even though the virus might not be extremely deadly, there's a larger number of people who can get infected," added Carlson.
Is social distancing a failure?
In the initial days of the coronavirus outbreak, experts urged everyone to maintain a distance of 1.5 meters while interacting with others. However, Lydia Bourouiba, an associate professor at MIT, recently revealed that the Covid-19 virus could reach a distance of up to eight meters while coughing and sneezing.
