Statistics from over the weekend indicated that there were nearly 80,000 cases of coronavirus worldwide with about 2,500 deaths. The vast majority of deaths have taken place in China. Other countries and locations reporting deaths by coronavirus include the cruise ship Diamond Princess, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Hong Kong, Iran, Taiwan, France and the Philippines. Other countries reporting cases of coronavirus include Singapore, Malaysia, United States, Thailand, Australia, Germany, Vietnam, United Arab Emirate, Macao, Canada, United Kingdom, India, Russia, Spain, Belgium, Cambodia, Egypt, Finland, Israel, Lebanon, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Iraq.

Some countries are taking extreme measures in their attempt to control the spread of coronavirus. Turkey and Pakistan have shut their borders with Iran. In South Korea, there are over 600 cases and at least 6 people have died so far, causing President Moon Jae to declare the highest level alert possible. Italy has place travel restrictions on several cities, basically quarantining the residents. Other nations are soon to follow in imposing various restrictions and alerts.

Before continuing, I have stated that more people are dying from influenza than from the coronavirus and it is just as contagious and widespread. The difference is that the coronavirus may have been developed and released by the China government.

As the coronavirus continues to spread, it is being revealed that more men are dying from the virus than women, as reported:

The coronavirus that originated in China has spread fear and anxiety around the world. But while the novel virus has largely spared one vulnerable group — children — it appears to pose a particular threat to middle-aged and older adults, particularly men.

This week, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention published the largest analysis of coronavirus cases to date. Although men and women have been infected in roughly equal numbers, researchers found, the death rate among men was 2.8 percent, compared with 1.7 percent among women.

Men also were disproportionately affected during the SARS and MERS outbreaks, which were caused by coronaviruses. More women than men were infected by SARS in Hong Kong in 2003, but the death rate among men was 50 percent higher, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Some 32 percent of men infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome died, compared with 25.8 percent of women. Young adult men also died at higher rates than female peers during the influenza epidemic of 1918.

In fact, more men die from many respiratory virus infections than women. One reason is:

Women also produce stronger immune responses after vaccinations, and have enhanced memory immune responses, which protect adults from pathogens they were exposed to as children.

“There’s something about the immune system in females that is more exuberant,” said Dr. Janine Clayton, director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health.

Before the ladies start bragging, they need to learn:

But there’s a high price, she added: Women are far more susceptible to autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, in which the immune system shifts into overdrive and attacks the body’s own organs and tissues.

Nearly 80 percent of those with autoimmune diseases are women, Dr. Clayton noted.

Someone asked me if I thought the coronavirus would be eventually stopped and eliminated and my response is no. Several companies and agencies are working on a vaccine and cure, which will definitely help, but I seriously doubt if this virus can be eradicated. It is too easily spread, too widespread and too contagious to be completely eradicated. In my humble opinion, the coronavirus is here to stay, just like the flu and many other respiratory viruses.