What '19' in Covid-19 actually means: Pakistan minister shares ridiculous 'discovery'

While Pakistan struggles to maintain control of the Coronavirus pandemic, its political leaders continue to spread misinformation among the masses. In a recent incident, a Pakistani minister while educating the country regarding the COVID-19 virus on a national television broadcast claimed that it was named so because it had '19 points which affected different countries differently.'

"First they say it's a pandemic, then they said its an endemic. You have to live with it till it's the vaccine is developed. It's a flu. COVID-19 means that it has 19 points which can apply to different countries in different ways," said Pakistan's Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul. 

According to the official definition of COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, "'CO' stands for corona, 'VI' for virus, and 'D' for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as '2019 novel coronavirus' or '2019-nCoV." The 19 in the name stands for the year in which it originated. 

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This is not the first time that Pakistani religious and political leaders have spread misinformation in the name of educating the masses. A few weeks ago, a viral video clip came to light in which a Pakistani maulana was seen explaining the scientific basis behind the spread of the Coronavirus recommending people to 'sleep more' claiming that the virus would not harm in the body because it goes to sleep when we fall asleep. 

"Our doctors always recommend us to sleep more. The more we sleep, the more the virus sleeps. It won't harm us. When we sleep it sleeps, when we die, it dies," said the religious leader in a TV broadcast.

According to Johns Hopkins University tally, the country has publicly reported 1,71,666 cases of coronavirus infections with at least 3,382 deaths. 

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