Coronavirus: What You Need To Know

You’ve most likely read stories in the news about the spread of the coronavirus across China and other parts of the world, which has become a cause for global concern.

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Are South Africans at risk locally? And how best can we keep ourselves safe from infection, particularly while travelling internationally? Dr. Pete Vincent of Netcare Travel Clinics and Medicross Tokai has some advice.

While the World Health Organization (WHO) has now declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency, people should not be unduly alarmed by the coronavirus outbreak, particularly as no cases have been reported in South Africa as of 31 January, he says. However, he strongly recommends that everyone, especially those travelling internationally, take precautions, and that non-essential travel to China be postponed at this time. The majority of cases of the illness can be traced back to a travel history from the Chinese province where the outbreak originated, including cases in Thailand, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Australia, Malaysia, India, Germany, France, and the USA.