Exactly five years ago, on March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was characterized as a “pandemic” by the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, different vaccines and antivirals have been developed to combat the virus, and several variants have emerged. Despite advances, there are still many doubts about the disease.
From a scientific point of view, there are gaps to be filled, as some people have long and some not, and why some individuals are more susceptible to reinfection than others, for example. Several studies are being carried out to answer these questions.
On the other hand, even simpler questions permeate the population: What are the symptoms of the current COVID-19 variant? How many positive cases are today? Does the new coronavirus, discovered last month in China, have the potential for a new pandemic?
These are some of the most searched questions in the last three months on Google Trends, a tool that monitors the main searches performed on Google. According to a survey made by CNN the following terms had a sudden increase in the frequency of research in the last 90 days:
- New China Coronavirus;
- COVID 2025 Outbreak;
- COVID 2025 symptoms;
- COVID 2025 cases.
See the table below:
Answering the main questions
The new coronavirus (HKU5-COV-2) was found on Hong Kong bats. In a study published in late February, researchers showed that the pathogen can have the same ability to spread in humans as Covid-19.
In an interview with CNN infectologist Alexandre Naime, scientific coordinator of the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases and head of the UNESP Infectious Diseases, explains that “this is just a scientific finding of a genomic surveillance that is routinely made in bats, because they house thousands of viruses that can be transmitted to other animals, including humans.”
The doctor clarifies that, for now, the HKU5-Cov-2 has been identified only in bats and, only in theory, can it be transmitted to humans, but this has not happened, there is only potential. He further stresses that we acquire learning from Covid-19 pandemic, especially the genomic surveillance that is done in this study.
By 2025, Brazil already accounted for more than 130,000 cases of Covid-19 by the end of February, and 664 deaths. THE CNN infectologist Luana Araújo reinforces the importance of vaccination for disease control. “It is very difficult to accept 600 deaths from a disease that is prevenable by vaccine. What is missing a lot is to insist on people who are important and necessary to vaccinate, but it is also important to give people the opportunity to vaccinate, that is, [permitir que] Everyone who wants to get vaccinated find the vaccine, and that this vaccine is the most up to date possible, ”he says.
COVID-19 symptoms are still characterized by breathing problems such as cough, sore throat and runny nose, especially in light cases. In moderate to severe cases, persistent cough and fever, shortness of breath, respiratory discomfort and difficulty to feed, determining a SARG (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
Interest had peak on the 5th anniversary of the first case in Brazil
The interest in the term “Covid-19” has also remained stable over the past year, with a peak search from February 23 to March 1-with peak on February 27, a date that marked 5 years of the first case of confirmed disease in Brazil.
See below:
This content was originally published in 5 years of the pandemic: What do people still seek about Covid-19? on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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