Elon Musk calls coronavirus panic ‘dumb’, netizens call out his ‘privilege’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk called the panic due to the deadly coronavirus “dumb” at a time when around 3500 people have lost their lives and the threat of a possible pandemic looms large. The UN health agency and governments around the world have also urged to not panic but the epidemic has not been contained yet.

Coronavirus epidemic has become a major concern around the world as the more than 100,000 cases have been confirmed globally. The worst affected countries are China, South Korea, Iran, and Italy with around 3,500 deaths due to COVID-19. While some netizens agreed with Musk, many Twitter users called him out for giving an uninformed opinion even after running a company. 

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According to the latest report, 28 new deaths in China due to coronavirus infections have been confirmed, taking the total death toll because of the deadly virus to 3,070. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, other countries, including the United States, Iran, Italy, and South Korea, have also reported deaths related to COVID-19.

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'Encouraged by accelerated research'

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that they are continuing to recommend that all countries make containment their highest priority. Speaking at a daily media briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that they are encouraged by accelerated research as part of the response. WHO has received applications for 40 diagnostic tests, 20 vaccines are in development and many clinical trials of therapeutics are underway.

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