Is wuhan virus considered critical illness?

Hi Gabriel,

The standard list of CI and the upcoming revised list will not have included the Wuhan Coronavirus as a CI.

However, if a CI does develop as a result of being infected with the Wuhan Coronavirus, then a claim can be made.

Your best bet is to have hospitalization insurance to cover the hospital bills should an admission be required.

The 'wuhan' virus is not a critical illness. This virus itself is not listed as among critical illness. Typically critical illness relates to the the resulting illness (what it cause to your body) than what it is caused by. Certain bacteria and virus can cause cancer, but getting the virus/bacteria itself doesnt mean u meet the requirement for CI. For example, HPV can cause cervical cancer among several other cancers, but having HPV itself doesn't make it a critical illness.

The virus can potentially result in complications that would be considered critical illness. For example it can hypothetically, cause lungs to fail (CI) due to pnuemonia. The virus can overwhelm your body immune system and cause septic shock. Sceptic shock can cause the heart to weaken resulting in severe low blood pressure, which in turn can cause kidneys to fail (CI). It can also result in seizures resulting in stroke (CI), coma (CI). Heart attack (CI) can also easily happen if the person is already at risk.

On a side note, that's why taking common flu seriously is also important (for the elderly). It is important to get the elderly take flu vaccines. Studies shown flu vaccines can significantly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke. It is usually not the flu virus that kills, but complications that happens due to shock/weaken immune system.​​​