Coronavirus (COVID-19) Tips

Coronavirus Tips

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FOR PROTECT YOURSELF

The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic 

is an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).[7][b] The outbreak was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019,[4] declared to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, and recognized as a pandemic on 11 March 2020.[9][10] As of 11 April 2020, more than 1.72 million cases[5] of COVID-19 have been reported in 210 countries and territories,[6] resulting in more than 104,000 deaths. More than 390,000 people have recovered,[5] although the possiblility of reinfection of those who have recovered has been reported.[11][12] The case fatality rate was estimated to be 4 percent in China,[13] but varies significantly between countries.[14]

The virus is mainly spread between people during close contact,[c] often via small droplets produced during coughing,[d] sneezing, or talking.[15][16][18] While these droplets are produced when breathing out, they usually fall to the ground or surfaces rather than being infectious over large distances.[15][19][20] People may also become infected by touching a contaminated surface and then their face.[15][16] The virus can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours.[21] Coronavirus is most contagious during the first three days after onset of symptoms, although spread may be possible before symptoms appear and in later stages of the disease.[22]

Common symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath.[23] Complications may include pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.[24] The time from exposure to onset of symptoms is typically around five days, but may range from two to fourteen days.[25][26] There is no known vaccine or specific antiviral treatment.[15] Primary treatment is symptomatic and supportive therapy.[27]

Recommended preventive measures include hand washing, covering one's mouth when coughing, maintaining distance from other people, and monitoring and self-isolation for people who suspect they are infected.[15][28] Authorities worldwide have responded by implementing travel restrictions, quarantines, curfews, workplace hazard controls, and facility closures.

The pandemic has led to severe global socioeconomic disruption,[29] the postponement or cancellation of sporting, religious, political and cultural events,[30] and widespread shortages of supplies exacerbated by panic buying.[31][32] Schools and universities have closed either on a nationwide or local basis in 193 countries, affecting approximately 99.4 percent of the world's student population.[33] Misinformation about the virus has spread online,[34][35] and there have been incidents of xenophobia and discrimination against Chinese people and against those perceived as being Chinese or as being from areas with high infection rates.[36][37][38][39] Due to reduced travel and closures of heavy industry, there has been a decrease in air pollution and carbon emissions.[40][41]

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Epidemiology

Health authorities in Wuhan, China (the capital of Hubei province), reported a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause on 31 December 2019,[345] and an investigation was launched in early January 2020.[346] The cases mostly had links to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market and so the virus is thought to have a zoonotic origin.[347] The virus that caused the outbreak is known as SARS-CoV-2, a newly discovered virus closely related to bat coronaviruses,[348] pangolin coronaviruses,[10] and SARS-CoV.[349]

The earliest known person with symptoms was later discovered to have fallen ill on 1 December 2019, and that person did not have visible connections with the later wet market cluster.[350][351] Of the early cluster of cases reported in December 2019, two-thirds were found to have a link with the market.[352][353][354] On 13 March 2020, an unverified report from the South China Morning Post suggested that a case traced back to 17 November 2019, in a 55-year-old from Hubei province, may have been the first.[355][356]

By 26 February, relatively few cases had been reported among youths, with those 19 and under making up 2.4% of cases worldwide.[357][358]

Cases

Cases refers to the number of people who have been tested for COVID-19, and whose test has been confirmed positive according to official protocols.[359] As of 23 March, no country had tested more than 3% of its population,[360] and many countries have had official policies not to test those with only mild symptoms, such as Italy,[361] the Netherlands,[362] Spain,[363] and Switzerland.[364] An analysis of the early phase of the outbreak estimated that up to 23 January, an 86% of COVID-19 infections had not been detected, and that these undocumented infections were the infection source for 79% of documented cases.[365] Several other statistical studies, using a variety of methods, have estimated that numbers of infections in many countries were considerably greater than the reported cases.[366][367]

Initial estimates of the basic reproduction number (R0) for COVID-19 in January were between 2.2 and 2.7, [368] but subsequent statistical analysis has concluded that it may be much higher.[369]

Duration

The WHO asserts that the pandemic can be controlled.[10] The peak and ultimate duration of the outbreak are uncertain and may differ by location. Maciej Boni of Penn State University stated, "Left unchecked, infectious outbreaks typically plateau and then start to decline when the disease runs out of available hosts. But it's almost impossible to make any sensible projection right now about when that will be".[392] The Chinese government's senior medical adviser Zhong Nanshan argued that "it could be over by June" if all countries can be mobilized to follow the WHO's advice on measures to stop the spread of the virus.[392] On 17 March, Adam Kucharski of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine stated that SARS-CoV-2 "is going to be circulating, potentially for a year or two".[393] According to the Imperial College study led by Neil Ferguson, physical distancing and other measures will be required "until a vaccine becomes available (potentially 18 months or more)".[394] William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University stated, "I think it's unlikely that this coronavirus—because it's so readily transmissible—will disappear completely" and it "might turn into a seasonal disease, making a comeback every year". The virulence of the comeback would depend on herd immunity and the extent of mutation.[395]

Signs and symptoms

Main article: Coronavirus disease 2019

Symptoms of COVID-19^[396]

Symptoms of COVID-19 can be relatively non-specific and infected people may be asymptomatic. The two most common symptoms are fever (88%) and dry cough (68%). Less common symptoms include fatigue, respiratory sputum production (phlegm), loss of the sense of smell, shortness of breath, muscle and joint pain, sore throat, headache, chills, vomiting, hemoptysis, diarrhea, or cyanosis.[2][397][398][399]

The WHO states that approximately one person in six becomes seriously ill and has difficulty breathing.[400] The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists emergency symptoms as difficulty breathing, persistent chest pain or pressure, sudden confusion, difficulty waking, and bluish face or lips; immediate medical attention is advised if these symptoms are present.[401]

Further development of the disease can lead to severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, septic shock and death. Some of those infected may be asymptomatic, with no clinical symptoms but with test results that confirm infection, so researchers have issued advice that those with close contact to confirmed infected people should be closely monitored and examined to rule out infection.[352][402][403][404] Chinese estimates of the asymptomatic ratio range from few to 44%.[405] The usual incubation period (the time between infection and symptom onset) ranges from one to 14 days; it is most commonly five days.[406][407]

As an example of uncertainty, the estimate of the fraction of people with COVID-19 who lost their sense of smell was initially 30%[408] and later fell to 15%.[409]

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