Former Bachelor Tim Robards has made extraordinary about the coronavirus, saying the global health crisis which has claimed more than 2,500 lives is simply ‘clickbait’.
The 37-year-old chiropractor and reality star spoke about the outbreak – which has so far infected 22 people in Australia – during an Instagram Q&A on Tuesday night.
A fan asked him, ‘Has the coronavirus doomed us in your opinion?’. Tim replied by saying that he believed the main problem was sensationalism by the media.
‘It’s their job to create clickbait’: The Bachelor’s Tim Robards, 37, (pictured) has aired his skepticism about media coverage of the coronavirus
‘So firstly, look, I will just say my heart goes out to anyone that’s been affected,’ he said.
‘But, at the same time, we have to ask ourselves how much do we buy into the media, when it’s their job to create clickbait and to create headlines and to get their ratings up.’
Tim’s qualifications include a physics degree, a Bachelor of Medical Science and a Masters of Chiropractic.
He worked as a chiropractor for seven years before being cast as Australia’s first Bachelor in 2013.
‘We have to ask ourselves how much do we buy into the media’: On Tuesday night, the chiropractor spoke to fans via Instagram Stories about the deadly flu-like infection; which has already claimed more than 2,500 lives globally and infected 22 people in Australia
Qualifications: Tim holds a physics degree, a Bachelor of Medical Science, and a Masters of Chiropractic
Tim is not a medical doctor, but is entitled to use the term ‘doctor’ due to his chiropractic training.
On Monday, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned the world must prepare for a potential coronavirus pandemic.
Tedros Ghebreyesus said the spread of the virus around the world is not yet at pandemic stage but acknowledged it has the potential to become one.
The WHO no longer uses an official scale to declare a pandemic, although spokeswoman Margaret Harris said it will start to use the term in communications if it believes a pandemic has been reached.
Speaking in Geneva, Dr Ghebreyesus said the focus must still be on containing the virus in individual countries, adding that the world is not yet seeing ‘large-scale severe disease or death’.
He said the WHO was ‘encouraged by the continued decline in cases in China’, although more than 77,362 cases have been declared there, including 2,618 deaths.
Warning: Meanwhile, On Monday, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned the world must prepare for a potential coronavirus pandemic. Pictured: Paramedics wearing personal protective equipment carry a stretcher off an ambulance in Hong Kong on February 23
A specialist team sent to China found that the epidemic peaked and plateaued between January 23 and February 2, and has since been declining steadily, he said.
Dr Ghebreyesus said the death rate is between 2 per cent and 4 per cent in Wuhan city, where the virus originated, and 0.7 per cent outside Wuhan.
The mass outbreak has prompted the government to introduce a ban on direct flights from China to Australia.
Seven people have died and 229 have been infected in Italy, which is firefighting Europe’s first major outbreak. Pictured: Tourists wearing a protective facemasks in central Milan on February 24
‘We continue to advise Australians to not travel to China due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak,’ an update on the government’s travel website says.
Offering advice to any Australians in the infection zone, the website says: ‘If you are currently in China, leave as soon as possible by commercial means.’
Because flights to Australia are cancelled, anyone who wants to fly from China will have to travel to another country and wait there for 14 days before coming to Australia.
Fourteen days is thought to be the maximum period that coronavirus can be present in a person before they show symptoms.
AUSTRALIANS WITH THE CORONAVIRUS
NEW SOUTH WALES: 4
January 25
- Three men aged 43, 53, and 35 who had recently travelled to China are confirmed to have contracted the disease.
- Two flew in from Wuhan while the other arrived in Sydney from Shenzhen, south China.
- They were treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital
January 27
- A 21-year-old woman is identified as the fourth person to test positive for the illness in NSW.
- The woman, a student at UNSW, flew into Sydney International Airport on flight MU749 on January 23 and presented to the emergency department 24 hours later after developing flu-like symptoms.
VICTORIA: 6
January 25
- A Chinese national aged in his 50s becomes the first confirmed case of the coronavirus in Australia.
- The man flew to Melbourne on China Southern flight CZ321 from Wuhan via Guangzhou on January 19.
- He was quarantined at Monash Hospital in Clayton in Melbourne’s east.
January 29
- A Victorian man in his 60s is diagnosed with the coronavirus.
- He became unwell on January 23 – two days after returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.
- The man was confirmed as positive on January 29 and was subsequently seen by doctors at the Monash Medical Centre.
January 30
- A woman in her 40s is found to have coronavirus.
- She was visiting from China and mostly spent time with her family.
- She is being treated at Royal Melbourne Hospital.
February 1
- A woman in her 20s in Melbourne is found to have the virus
February 22
- Two passengers taken off the Diamond Princess cruise ship test positive
QUEENSLAND: 8
January 29
- Queensland confirms its first case after a 44-year-old Chinese national was diagnosed with the virus. He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital.
January 30
- A 42-year-old Chinese woman who was travelling in the same Wuhan tour group as the 44-year-old man tests positive. She is in Gold Coast University Hospital in stable condition.
February 4
- An eight-year-old boy has been diagnosed coronavirus. He is also from the tour group where the other Queensland cases came from
February 5
- The case was found in a 37-year-old man, who was a member of a group of nine Chinese tourists in quarantine on the Gold Coast
February 6
- A 37-year-old woman has been diagnosed with coronavirus from the same travel group that flew to Queensland from Melbourne on January 27
February 21
- Two Queensland women, aged 54 and 55, tested positive for COVID-19 and will be flown to Brisbane for further treatment.
- A 57-year-old woman from Queensland also tests positive for the virus
SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 3
February 1
- A Chinese couple in their 60s who arrived in Adelaide from Wuhan to visit relatives are confirmed to have coronavirus.
- A 24-year-old woman from South Australia has been transferred to Royal Adelaide Hospital
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: 1
February 21
- A 78-year-old man from Western Australia was transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth
JAPAN: 15
- As of February 15, 47 Australians are among 219 confirmed cases of the coronavirus contracted on board Diamond Princess cruise ship at Yokohama.
- Two more Australians who were on board tested positive after they were evacuated to Darwin on February 22
How to minimise infection risk
Avoid all high-risk areas such as farms, live animal markets, and areas where animals are slaughtered, including fish and seafood
Avoid contact with animals (alive or dead), including pigs, chickens, ducks and wild birds – surfaces with animal droppings or secretions on them
If you come into contact with any animals or animal products, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth until you have thoroughly sanitised your hands.
Wash your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitiser, before and after eating, and after going to the toilet
Avoid contact with others (touching, kissing, hugging, and other intimate contact), especially if they are sick
Monitor your health closely.
If you develop symptoms (fever, a cough, sore throat, tiredness or shortness of breath), you should arrange to see a doctor for an urgent assessment Follow the advice of local authorities
Contact your airline or travel company for information about changes to flight services
You do not need to wear a face mask if you are well.
Surgical masks in the community are only helpful in preventing people who are infected with coronavirus from spreading it to others.
However, if you are travelling in an affected country, you must follow the advice of local authorities
Source: Smarttraveller
