Coronavirus: What is it?
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory illness that can spread from person to person; this virus first emerged in China in late December that has claimed more than 3,300 lives worldwide.
Following the outbreak, the World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency and warned countries against assuming that this virus won’t hit by this virus.
The novel coronavirus, identified by Chinese authorities on January 7 and since named SARS-CoV-2, is a bunch of many viruses causing illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe illness such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). This is a new virus that had not been previously identified in humans.
Countries around the world are magnifying their efforts to beat this new virus. Here is everything that you need to know.
• How does COVID-19 spread?
Since COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, according to WHO this can be transmitted through droplets of different sizes. According to current evidence by WHO, the COVID-19 virus is primarily transmitted between people through respiratory droplets and contact routes. This virus is spread mainly between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet) through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes into the mouth or nose of an uninfected person.
In an analysis, another reason for the spread of covid-19 may be possible that you can also pick up the virus by touching a surface or object that an infected person has touched that has the virus on it and then touching your own mouth, nose, or eyes with your hand, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.
In most cases, people are diagnosed with this disease when they are the most symptomatic. Basically, those people with a bad immune system are more prone to catching this virus. Because of the low immunity of an individual, the virus spreads quickly from person to person around the world and maybe months before an effective vaccine is developed.
• Common symptoms of COVID-19
According to the WHO, the usual symptoms of this virus Covid-19 are mild to severe respiratory illness causing
• Fever
• Shortness of breath and breathing difficulties
• cough
In more severe cases of illness, it can also result in
• Pneumonia
• Multiple organ failure and even death.
According to the latest news the incubation period – the amount of time between infection and the onset of symptoms – ranges from one to 14 days. In most cases, the infected people show symptoms within five to six days. However, patients with this disease may not see any symptoms despite having the virus in their systems.
•Things you can do in order to Prevent Yourself From Covid-19
a) Strictly follow Social Distancing:
• Avoid big gatherings, functions, etc.
• Maintain a safe distance of at least one Meter between you and other people during this time.
• When you are in public places, make sure to maintain a safe distance, especially if someone there is having symptoms such as cough, fever, etc. to avoid direct droplet contact.
• Stay at home as much as possible.
• Avoid any kind of physical contacts like handshakes, handholding, or hugs.
• Avoid touching surfaces such as tabletops, chairs, door handles, etc.
b) Practice good hygiene:
• Wash your hands frequently using soap and water, especially after coming home from outside or meeting other people.
• How deadly is it?
The symptoms of this new virus can lead to pneumonia in both lungs, resulting in multi-organ failure and in some cases death.
With a huge number of deaths recording till now, the number of fatalities from this newly spread virus has surpassed the toll of the 2002-2003 SARS outbreaks, which also originated in China.
According to the past records SARS killed about 9 percent of those it infected – nearly 800 people worldwide and more than 300 in China alone. MERS, which did not spread as widely, was more deadly, killing one-third of the people who were infected.
Covid-19 is more extensive and widespread in China as compared to SARS in terms of case numbers; the mortality rate remains considerably lower at approximately 2 percent, according to the WHO.
