I’d like to begin this article with a small disclaimer: I AM NOT A HEALTH CARE EXPERT OR PROFESSIONAL. The only difference between myself and the average joe is I took the time to read a few articles, watch some videos, and put it all into a nice little bundle of information easily accessible to the uninformed masses. Though I can assure you all of what will be said in this article has been confirmed as well as suggested by professionals, please do not misinterpret this article as an attempt to provide professional medical advice, it is simply a source of information. In this article I’m going to lay out some basic information in order to provide you, the reader, with a surface level understanding of the disease as well as symptoms and preventative measures we should all be taking to help curb the spread of the disease.
Now, let’s begin.
For those of you who have been living under a rock lately; CoVid-19, 19-nCoV, or most commonly known to the public simply as “coronavirus”, is a viral disease quickly spreading across the globe with cases being discovered in all E.U. member nations as well as the United States. Coronavirus is actually a classification of virus and is the cause of diseases such as CoVid-19. A coronavirus is a specific type of virus that concentrates its attack on the respiratory system of its host, mainly the lungs. Some well-known diseases caused by coronaviruses would include the SARs-CoV and the MERS-CoV. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they originate in animals and are then transferred to humans. The leading theory of how this new kind of coronavirus entered a human host is that it was contracted at a fish and wildlife market in Wuhan, China. Although many of these zoonotic corona viruses are not able to move from human to human, there are a few that are including, CoVid-19. As of March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak of CoVid-19 to be a world wide pandemic.
Do not be concerned, dear reader! Yes, the disease is spreading quickly and a lot of the fear and panic associated with it is due to its novelty. This disease is in fact rather mild, with only about 20% of cases leading to hospitalization and 16% of cases leading to serious illness. The most vulnerable to these serious conditions would be the elderly and those who already have other serious health conditions. With that being said, it is still of paramount importance that we all take a few personal steps and actions to help prevent ourselves from contracting and next spreading the disease. For starters, quarantine is no longer a viable option to prevent the spread. This disease has been shown to lie dormant and show no symptoms for up to 24 days after contraction. There could be many people walking among us who are carriers and have absolutely no way of knowing so.
However, if you do in fact start to show symptoms (which include fever, coughing, respiratory issues, and difficulty breathing) you should definitely remove yourself from society and get in touch with your doctor! However, simple daily actions such as washing your hands multiple times throughout the day, sanitizing your cell phone, coughing or sneezing into a sleeve rather than your hand, and NOT TOUCHING YOUR FACE can help protect you from becoming sick and from spreading the disease as well. For any additional information and for updates on the current outbreak, refer to the World Health Organization.
https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
Bayou Observant 