COVID maths: All the viruses in the world would fit in a can of coca

LONDON (Reuters) – All the COVID-causing viruses circulating in the world today could easily fit into a single can of cola, according to a calculation by a British mathematician whose sum shows just how much havoc is being done by tiny virus particles.

Using global rates of new infections linked to the pandemic disease, coupled with viral load estimates, University of Bath mathematics expert Kit Yates established that there were about two quintillion – or two billion billions of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles around the world time.

Detailing the steps in his calculations, Yates said he used the diameter of SARS-CoV-2 – at an average of about 100 nanometers, or 100 billionths of a meter – and then calculated the volume of the spherical virus.

Even taking into account the advanced proteins projecting from the coronavirus and the fact that the spherical particles will leave spaces when stacked, the total is still less than that of a single 330 milliliter (ml) can of cola, a- he declared.

“It’s amazing to think that all of the problems, disruptions, hardships and loss of life that have resulted in the past year could be but a few bites,” Yates said in a statement.

To date, more than 2.34 million people have died in the COVID-19 pandemic and there have been nearly 107 million confirmed cases worldwide.

(History repeats itself to correct the typo)