Zubair Qureshi
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Sunday visited Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (PIMS) and inspected the Standard Operation Procedure being adopted at the isolation ward of the hospital where patients of novel coronavirus are being kept.
While talking to media on this occasion Dr Zafar Mirza said there was possibility that rise in temperature in coming days could kill coronavirus.
However, he said as it was a new virus and this is the first outbreak in the world we cannot say for sure that the virus will be killed by the increase in temperature.
In some cases, it has been observed that the virus may not survive if the temperature increases to 26°C. We had a sudden spell of rain in Pakistan or temperatures would have risen to 26°C by now,” he added.
So, at the same time, we are also making alternative arrangements to accommodate patients in the event of a sudden increase in cases,” he said.
About the latest case detected in Karachi on Sunday, he said the suspect was over 50-years old and all the standard operating procedures were being taken to tackle this new
case.
Dr Mirza said the disease had a mortality rate of around 2pc that’s why it has been decided that if there is a rise in cases, mild to moderate patients should be in houses – either their own or houses and buildings selected by the government for this purpose – which will be converted into isolation wards.
Only 20pc of patients fall critically ill and due to this they will be admitted to hospital and provided proper care, he added, explaining that patients who are more likely to develop serious symptoms because of their age, immunity level or pre-existing conditions would be considered critical. Dr Mirza added that the recovery of one of the six patients in the country was good news.
The novel coronavirus is not similar to polio or hepatitis viruses, microbiologist Dr Javed Usman said. These are non-enveloped viruses that become more active when temperatures rise as they remain in the water and resist detergent and organic material.
He described the coronavirus as a “delicate virus just like HIV”, saying: “According to an American professor, though HIV is considered very dangerous it is so delicate that it can even die from a dirty look. A large number of viruses belong to the coronavirus family and they die if the temperature increases.
So it is hoped that the same will be the case with COVID-19 and it would not survive if current ambient temperature increases, said he. When asked if Pakistan was prepared to deal with an outbreak, Dr Usman remarked that even developed countries do not have the capacity to accommodate a large number of patients in hospitals. However, he added, fear and stress among the public should be reduced to boost immunity levels.
