All you need to know about COVID-19
What Is COVID-19?
A disease caused by a coronavirus, a common virus that can cause what doctors call a respiratory tract infection. It can affect your upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) or lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs). Most coronaviruses aren’t dangerous.
In early 2020, following a December 2019 outbreak in China, WHO identified a new type of coronavirus. Officials named this new virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This is the virus that causes COVID-19.
Symptoms of COVID-19
Early symptoms are much like those of the common cold. But the virus can lead to pneumonia, respiratory failure and, in some cases, septic shock. If you’re exposed and infected, symptoms can show up in as few as 2 days or as many as 14. It varies from person to person.
Your doctor will suspect COVID-19 if:
- You have fever and breathing problems and you’ve traveled to places where the virus has spread
- You’ve been exposed to people who have it within the last 14 days.
How Does the New Coronavirus Spread?
· The virus may spread from person to person, between people who are within about 6 feet of each other, and through droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
· It may spread before people have symptoms.
· It spreads from contact with infected surfaces. Touching a surface or object that has the virus and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes is one way it may spread, although the CDC says it is not believed to the main way of spreading the virus.
· Studies to date suggest it is not airborne, so you can’t catch it from breathing.
· It spreads easily and sustainably in the community.
How Do You Prevent the Spread?
Three words offer the best advice: Wash. Your. Hands. Wash them for at least 20 seconds each time. Wash them before you prepare food, eat, after use the bathroom, if you cough or sneeze, and if you are caring for sick people. If you don’t have soap and water, use a sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Otherwise:
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Don’t touch your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Stay home when you are sick.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and then throw the tissue into the trash.
- Clean frequently touched objects and surfaces with a disinfectant cleaning spray or wipe.
Are face masks really effective in reducing the risk of being contaminated ?
Generally, no. If you have COVID-19, then, yes, wearing a mask should reduce the risk of you giving it to someone else.
But, if you're otherwise healthy, surgical masks provide little protection and the more sophisticated N95 masks are best left to health care workers, who are often fitted for them. Many people who wear either mask often do not do so properly -- they continue to touch their face or adjust the masks, which can actually increase the risk of getting infected. You alsohave to dispose of it carefuly. They are also not resusable, so as soon as you touch your face or adjust the mask, or take it off once you get inside somewhere safe, you can't put it back on.
Who Gets It?
Anyone can get it, and most infections are usually mild, especially in children and young adults. But if you aren’t in an area where COVID-19 is spreading, haven’t travelled from an area where it’s spreading, and haven’t been in contact with someone who has it, your risk of infection is low.
Older people and those with weakened immune systems or medical conditions like chronic bronchitis, emphysema, high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease, cancer, or diabetes are most likely to get a serious illness.
What to Do if You Think You Have COVID-19
If you live in or have travelled to an area where COVID-19 is spreading:
- If you don’t feel well, stay home. Even if you have mild symptoms like a headache and runny nose, stay in until you’re better. This lets doctors focus on people who are more seriously ill and protects health care workers and people you might meet along the way.
- Call the doctor if you have a fever, cough, and trouble breathing. You need to get medical help as soon as possible. Calling ahead (rather than showing up) will let the doctor direct you to the proper place, which may not be your doctor’s office. If you don’t have a regular doctor, call your local board of health. They can tell you where to go for testing and treatment.
- Follow your doctor’s advice and keep up with the news on COVID-19. Between your doctor and health care authorities, you’ll get the care you need and information on how to prevent the virus from spreading.
Is there a vaccine for COVID-19?
Not yet. And any working vaccine is at least a year away. But several research universities and drug companies are working on it. At least one possible vaccine is ready for phase I human trials.
How is coronavirus treated?
There is no drug treatment yet, and antibiotics are effective only against bacterial infections. Experts recommend treating symptoms: Try ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or naproxen for pain and fever; get rest; and drink plenty of water. People with more serious cases need to be in the hospital, where they may need help with breathing and other support.
Can I get coronavirus from a package?
The CDC says there is likely a “very low risk” of it spreading from products or packaging shipped over a period of days or weeks. “Coronaviruses are generally thought to be spread most often by respiratory droplets. Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods, and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goods,” the agency says. But it is always good practice to wash your hands after touching shipped objects and certainly before eating or touching your mouth or eyes.
When and where did the outbreak start?
China first reported the outbreak in Wuhan on Dec. 30, 2019.
Is the coronavirus seasonal, like the flu?
Will the coronavirus die out once warmer weather hits? It's possible, but we don't know enough about the virus yet to know for sure, says Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Most respiratory viruses, like the flu, are seasonal. Coronavirus may behave like the flu and we'll see cases go down in spring and summer, she says. “But it's premature to assume that.” The agency continues to take aggressive action because it can't count on that.