One single can of Coke would hold the coronavirus particles currently circulating the globe, according to a British mathematician.
Kit Yates, senior lecturer at Bath University in the United Kingdom, estimated there are roughly two quintillion SARS-CoV-2 virus particles in the world. "It is roughly the same as the number of grains of sand on the planet. But when calculating the total volume, we’ve got to remember that SARS-CoV-2 particles are extremely small," Yates wrote in a piece for The Conversation.
"My wife suggested it would be the size of an Olympic swimming pool. 'Either that or a teaspoon,' she said. 'It’s usually one or the other with these sorts of questions,'" he penned.
It turned out the real answer was in the middle.
Yates said he came up with the estimation using the diameter of a single SARS-CoV-2 particle, then coupled that with "the volume of the spherical virus."
"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," he quipped.
With just over 107 million cases confirmed, more than 2,359,000 people have died from complications related to COVID-19.
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