QuickCheck: Is flurona a variant of Covid-19?

A WOMAN in Israel tested positive for a new strain of Covid-19 called Flurona.

Is this true?

Verdict:

FALSE

Flurona is not a new variant of Covid-19, it is instead double infection of both Covid-19 and the influenza virus.

The term came in the spotlight after an unvaccinated pregnant woman in her 30s tested positive for both diseases in Israel on Thursday, which is the world's first recorded case.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), both Covid-19 and influenza are respiratory diseases that can cause similar symptoms including a cough, a sore throat, a runny nose, fever and headache.

Likewise, the two diseases can be spread through droplets and aerosols when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes.

The infected woman, showing mild symptoms, was treated with a drug combination that targets both Covid-19 and the flu, and was discharged from hospital on Thursday, according to medics at Beilinson Hospital in Israel's Petah Tikva city.

So far, the exact symptoms and the rate of mortality Flurona might cause remain unclear.

Scientists are still studying how it will possibly spread and the severity of the new double contagion. - Bernama