Experts criticise media hype over coronavirus.

KARACHI -- Experts at an event held on Monday at Karachi University (KU) criticised the media hype over coronavirus and shared the data showing much higher numbers of mortality caused by other diseases in the past.

They also highlighted that the best prevention against the coronavirus was hand hygiene and that washing hands with an ordinary soap killed the virus.

They were speaking at a seminar organised by Dr A.Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (Kibge) in collaboration with Pakistan Biological Safety Association (PBSA).

The event was attended by a large number of students, faculty members, technical and supporting staff.

Expressing concern over what they described as public over-reaction to coronavirus, experts at the programme said there was no need to panic as protection from coronavirus was easy to exercise and the fatality rate from the virus was much lower as compared to other diseases.

'Around 50 million people died in the Spanish flu'

'While more than 110,000 have been infected from coronavirus worldwide, an estimated 3,800 have died so far. Only seven coronavirus cases have been reported from Pakistan and they all have a travel history to Iran. And, thankfully, all patients are in a recovery phase,' director general Kibge Prof Abid Azhar said, adding none of the patients were infected within Pakistan.

Presenting data of outbreaks of other diseases, he said around 50 million died in the Spanish flu (1918-19) whereas 1.1m people died of the Asian flu in 1957.

'In 1968, the Hong Kong flu caused one million deaths while swine flu which hit many countries in 2009 killed 0.6 million,' Prof Azhar said.

He also shared some stats on the deaths caused by different diseases annually according to which lower respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused to 3.2m and 3.1m deaths worldwide, respectively.

'Diarrhoea...