MUSCAT: Citizens and residents must keep a “significant level” of social distancing until a vaccine for coronavirus is found, a specialist in infectious disease advising the Oman health ministry has said.
“Social distancing modelling has shown that this practice has prevented up to 120,000 deaths in Europe alone. To control this virus to a greater extend we must practice a significant level of social distancing,” said
Dr. Eskild Petersen, a specialist in infectious disease from Denmark who is also a consultant with the Ministry of Health.
Speaking during a webinar titled ‘Steering a business through Covid-19’ organised by Oman Expo LLC, Petersen said “the virus will not go out of society completely, over the next few months. It will likely remain in society at a low level until a vaccination for this is found”
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“Because this virus has never been seen before, none of us have any immunity towards it. The structure of these viruses is very similar to that of the common cold,” he said.
Petersen, who is also a member of the Department of Infection Diseases at Aarhus University in Denmark also praised the efforts of the Omani authorities. “Oman is implementing the same system that is now present in Europe. The outbreak is expected to subside in about six to eight weeks. Once that happens, the virus will have smaller and larger areas of infection, but they can be controlled,” he added.
