Queen Elizabeth Hospital confirmed that a SARS- like respiratory illness caused the death of a patient last Sunday morning. In other parts of the world, out of the 12 infected, six died and experts believe that the virus is not really a threat to human beings but it can easily be transmitted from one person to another.
There was another report about a family whose 3 members were infected with the said virus and according to the report, one family member could have gotten the virus when they travelled to Pakistan and the Middle East which was then passed on the son and to the other family member. They had to be treated in Qatar, unfortunately, the son who had a weak immune system died.
Those who had contact with the infected family members should be tested according to the hospital and the Health Protection Agency because this viral infection may cause pneumonia and even kidney failure.
For now, where this SARS-like virus came from and how it can be transmitted remain a mystery to the experts, their theory is that the virus could have come from the animals, specifically bats. What the experts are sure of is that the virus is not a threat to humans because it does not quickly spread from one person to another.
The Health Protection Agency respiratory diseases department head, Professor John Watson said that how the coronavirus is passed on to human beings is still unknown but there are evidences showing that it can be transmitted from one person to another.
He added that recent deaths caused by the coronavirus give experts an opportunity to study how humans can acquire this virus and the risk factors involved. Right now, the risks that this virus entails are very low, on the other hand, University of Reading Professor Ian Jones believes that it is premature to tell whether the death was really caused by the viral infection, given that the patient had a weak immune system. He added that no viral spread to the public indicates the risk is still very low.