All the COVID-19 Virus in the World Could Fit in a Soda Can
Once you think you've heard absolutely everything there is to know about COVID-19, something like this pops up.
According to a British mathematician, all the COVID-19 virus particles in the world could fit inside a can of soda. This demonstrates just how much even tiny particles can wreak havoc on the entire planet.
The calculation was done by Christian Yates, a senior lecturer in mathematical biology at the University of Bath in England. He set out to calculate just how many COVID-19 virus particles are circulating in the world for the BBC and described his process in a piece he wrote for the Conversation.
Yates' calculations led to his estimate that there are 200 million billion virus particles in the world at any given time. While that is a huge number, given that a single COVID-19 particle is "roughly 1,000 times thinner than a human hair," the total volume of virus particles in the world is pretty minuscule.
“It’s astonishing to think that all the trouble, the disruption, the hardship and the loss of life that has resulted over the last year could constitute just a few mouthfuls of what would undoubtedly be the worst beverage in history,” Yates writes.
To date, there have been more than 107 million COVID-19 infections around the world, according to Johns Hopkins. More than 2.3 million people have died from the virus.
LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions
While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.