Coronavirus outbreak | Tencent might have leaked real figures on deaths and infections: Report

Worldwide coronavirus related deaths number at over 500 with more than 28,000 confirmed infections - the majority from China, as per official data.

Moneycontrol News

February 06, 2020 / 17:43 IST

News reports cited leaked data to claim the Chinese government is under-reporting official figures of deaths novel coronavirus related deaths and infections.

Coronavirus-related deaths number at over 500 worldwide, with more than 28,000 confirmed infections with the majority being from China, as per official data.

However, Taiwan News reported that Tencent - China's second-largest company - may have leaked the ‘real’ cases and deaths caused by the virus.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The report noted that initial updates on Tencent's website showed over 24,000 deaths from the coronavirus took place in 2019, before getting revised in alignment with official figures, the paper said, and added that the Chinese government was under-reporting official figures.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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Coronavirus outbreak | Tencent might have leaked real figures on deaths and infections: Report

Worldwide coronavirus related deaths number at over 500 with more than 28,000 confirmed infections - the majority from China, as per official data.

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