Facts in Q&A format

Research by the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations evaluated the survival of the Covid-19 virus on different surfaces and reported that the virus can remain viable for up to 72 hours on plastic and stainless steel, up to four hours on copper, and…

An epidemic occurs when there is a higher than expected number of cases of an illness in a community or region.  

A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a disease, usually affecting a large number of people.

 

More: Is the claim of a pandemic every 100 years accurate?

Smoking is known to impair lung function, affect the immune system and can increase the severity of respiratory diseases such as influenza. Although no randomised controlled studies that have directly investigated the effect of smoking on people with Covid-19 are available at present, according to…

Hand hygiene plays a crucial part in the prevention of the spread of the new coronavirus.

According to the World Health Organization, research has shown that nurses who regularly used alcohol hand rubs had less skin irritation and dryness than those using soap and water.

As a result of the…

Members of the general public have been discouraged from using surgical masks and N95 respirators amid global shortages of protective equipment for health workers. But recently updated guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) give examples in which “the general public should be…

No, Covid-19 is not caused by bacteria. According to the World Health Organization, Covid-19 is the disease caused by the new coronavirus – a respiratory virus that is spread by droplets from an infected person.

Viruses and bacteria differ in a number of ways. Bacteria are “single-celled…

Covid-19 can infect anyone, but some people are believed to be more likely to develop severe illness. Examples include patients who are older than 60 years and those with pre-existing medical conditions that “affect the cardiovascular, respiratory and immune system”. These conditions include lung…

The authors of an academic paper, which hasn’t been peer reviewed, claim that there is a correlation between Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination and the extent to which countries are affected by Covid-19. BCG is a tuberculosis vaccine.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim, a clinical infectious…

Update (25/04/2020): The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has warned that chloroquine can cause abnormal heart rhythms.

 

Chloroquine is being investigated as a possible treatment for Covid-19. It is not an approved cure.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has warned people…