Coronavirus: Amid fears of global pandemic, google highlights safety tips

The novel Chinese coronavirus has raised fears of a global pandemic with almost 12,000 infected in just a month. Google highlights safety tips and WHO sounds highest health alert.

According to recent updates, the death toll from the deadly novel coronavirus in China has gone up to 259. The latest count also shows 11,791 infected cases in 31 provincial-level regions in the country. Friday saw 2,102 new confirmed cases, 5,019 new suspected cases, and 46 deaths.

This virus is spreading at an alarming rate. India has already got one positive case. Hong Kong has so far got 13 positive cases and Taiwan 10. UK has 2 positive cases. Germany, Japan, Vietnam, the United States, Thailand and South Korea have reported cases of patients being infected by people who had travelled to China.

Chinese coronavirus spreading faster than SARS

According to BBC reports, the new coronavirus has already overtaken the SARS outbreak in 2003. The report says that as compared to nearly 10,000 people infected with the new coronavirus, most in China since it emerged in December, around 8,100 cases of SARS - severe acute respiratory syndrome - were reported during the eight-month outbreak in 2003. During this period, 774 people died from the SARS virus.

On the other hand, in just one month, more than 100 new coronavirus cases have been reported outside China, in 22 countries. The number of deaths so far stands at 213 - all in China. Acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, the World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency over the new outbreak. Amid rising global fears of a pandemic, India has evacuated 324 Indian nationals stranded in Wuhan.

Google highlights safety tips on coronavirus

With the novel coronavirus outbreak grabbing the attention of people worldwide, Google is now showing safety tips to people when they search "coronavirus". The search engine giant is using resources from the World Health Organization to show people safety tips and news and updates about the mysterious virus. They have also launched an SOS Alert with WHO, to make resources about coronavirus easily accessible. When people search for related info on Google, they'll find the alert right on top of the results page with direct access to safety tips, info, resources and Twitter updates from WHO. In a bid to support coronavirus relief efforts in China, Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org, also announced a $250,000 direct grant to the Chinese Red Cross.

With inputs from IANS