Is Coronavirus weakening? Italian expert says virus will die out soon

The Italian expert believes that complications associated with coronavirus infection have drastically reduced in the past few weeks

As the novel coronavirus is wreaking havoc in countries like India and Brazil, a top Italian expert who studied the pathogen has claimed that this pandemic will die out before healthcare scientists develop a vaccine.

According to Professor Matteo Bassetti, the virus is weakening, and its severity will gradually come down in the coming weeks.

Bassetti cites Italian example

Bassetti put forward this possibility after coronavirus patients in Italy started surviving more when compared to the initial days of the outbreak. According to the latest statistics, coronavirus has claimed the lives of more than 34,000 people in Italy, and the number of positive cases has crossed 2,38,499. However, after initial chaos, Italy successfully flattened the curve, and Bassetti believes that this trend may follow in other worst-affected countries too.

"It was like an aggressive tiger in March and April but now it's like a wild cat. Even elderly patients, aged 80 or 90, are now sitting up in bed and they are breathing without help. The same patients would have died in two or three days before. The clinical impression I have is that the virus is changing in severity. In March and early April, the patterns were completely different," Bassetti told Sunday Telegraph.

The Italian expert also added that the number of coronavirus patients who face severe health complications like pneumonia has drastically reduced in the past few weeks.

"There could be a lower viral load in the respiratory tract, probably due to a genetic mutation in the virus which has not yet been demonstrated scientifically," says Bassetti.

The dilemma regarding coronavirus mutation

Even though Bassetti assures the weakening of coronavirus in the coming weeks, a section of medical experts believes that the real chaos is yet to unfold, as the pathogen has already mutated to more than 30 different strains.

A recent study conducted by a team of researchers at the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou also suggested that the entire healthcare sector has actually underestimated the mutation capabilities of COVID-19. The study report literally alarmed medical experts, as finding an overall cure for this pandemic will be difficult due to the prevalence of the mutated pathogens in various parts of the world.