Coronavirus is a topic that is torn all over the planet. But in some Russian cities the disease has been taken by a strong fall in bananas sales. How can the delicious fruit be related, rich in potassium, with a mortal disease?
What is the coronavirus
The Coronavirus was first identified last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a name that was made known instantly throughout the world. Already in January 2020 the disease was reported in two dozen countries. The number of sick people exceeded 10, 000 and the deceased, the two hundred.
Although many more people die every year because of the common flu, the ignorance of the Coronavirus has caused generalized panic throughout the world. As with any new viral strain, many myths and fictional stories began to circulate in parallel to real data. It is believed that bats are the most likely source of Coronavirus, although no official conclusion has yet been reached. And this leads people to believe a variety of incredible theories.
Coronavirus symptoms
The manifestations of the Coronavirus are practically indistinguishable from the usual flu or acute respiratory infections, which in part does only increase collective hysteria. It is almost impossible to distinguish the coronavirus from another disease without specific evidence. Although there have been stories in the media of people who fell dead in the streets of China, in practice this has almost never happened. The exception could have been when a person passed out due to the weakness caused by the disease.
The coronavirus mainly affects the lower respiratory tract. Affected individuals will develop viral etiology pneumonia. Coughing, breathing difficulty, fever and weakness are considered characteristic signs of the disease. In fact, the disease manifests itself very similar to acute respiratory infection, which affects the upper respiratory tract. A distinctive characteristic of the Coronavirus is that the cough and the difficulty to breathe do not usually be preceded by throat pain and nasal secretion.
Typical symptoms of enteroviruses can appear as side effects of the disease: intestinal disorders, diarrhea and conjunctivitis. Therefore, the absence of symptoms allows an accurate diagnosis to be made. It can only be done on the basis of special test systems and PCR diagnostics that detect the virus in the patient’s sputum or blood. Such systems are not yet practiced in Russia, and people with suspected coronaviruses are isolated in special cubicles, treated with general antiviral agents, and monitored for disease progression.
Coronavirus in bananas?
The general panic over the coronavirus has affected businesses in the city of Vladivostok. Information was circulating among local residents that a deadly disease could be transmitted by bananas imported from China. The information was disseminated and collected by various media, but it was especially active on social networks.
As a result, banana sales have plummeted to almost zero. If before a single store could sell between 10 and 15 kilos of this fruit a week, now the owners of the outlets have been forced to throw away at least half of this amount. Banana prices were almost halved, but the losses were still severe, especially for the smaller outlets. A hoax on social media claimed that bananas had been confirmed to be the main source of the virus in China. Not even the numerous denials of the officials of the Ministry of Health have convinced the inhabitants of the Far East.
Is there coronavirus in bananas? Can bananas cause coronavirus or be a vector?
To understand if bananas could have coronavirus, you need to understand what it is. The virus is an absolute parasite that cannot exist outside of the host’s body or its bodily fluids. Although the virus is spread in saliva and sputum by coughing or sneezing, it dies very quickly in the air. If the virus comes into contact with things or food, it will stay alive for a very short time. Also, the coronavirus has very little resistance to temperature. It can only withstand heat up to 40 degrees. Although bananas are rarely heated to this temperature, in fact, simply washing them or any other fruit in hot water is enough to get rid of any potential viral threats.
Although the products arrive by plane directly from China, they have to wait a while to be loaded and then downloaded, before reaching the shelves. All this has been at least a few days. And if a virus has entered bananas or any other product, it will inevitably die during delivery time. Only a living bearer of the virus can be a danger.
As for the information that bananas cause coronavirus, only someone completely illiterate in medicine could believe it. Viruses are extracellular agents that can be reproduced by living cells. That is, no plant can cause a virus, only the viral agent itself within the human or animal body.
How do bananas affect coronavirus and can eat?
Of all these facts we can conclude that bananas and coronavirus are not related in any way. The only connection between them lies in a strange and completely illogical story that has been disseminated by several Russian media for some unclear reason. The coronavirus has been, and remains, used by a large number of media to increase its audience rates. But these sensationalist stories can sow panic among the population.
Rospotrebnadzor on bananas and coronovirus
To stop the panic, the director of Roskomnadzor, Alena Popova, has left the step ensuring that it is impossible to contract the crown through packages, fruit or other products.
The Ministry of Health has published a series of recommendations for citizens to really understand the scope of the threat and do not protect them with the same mythical means. They contain all the information they need about the virus and how to protect themselves from it.
