What Is COVID-19, What Should You Be Worried About?

What is Covid-19 and What are the symptoms of Coronavirus? Learn how you can fight with this Covid-19 outbreak?

What is COVID-19?

COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease caused by a member of the coronavirus family. Previously, it was named as a 2019 novel coronavirus. The virus has spread through animals like other corona viruses. 

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease

The virus was first spotted in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019.

Coronavirus emerged from China, but now it is spreading across the globe rapidly. The contagious respiratory disease may lead to death if the infected person has a weak immune system. [1]

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How and where did COVID-19 begin?

The virus outbreak began from Wuhan, the city in China, right after New Year’s Eve in 2019.

Some severe pneumonia cases reported that made people anxious. Virologists and health experts recognized the strain as a novel coronavirus, which was linked to a Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China.

The particular seafood markets considered one of the reasons for virus transmission before. 

SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is another virus type that spread in 2003 and named as SARS-CoV-1. It also transmitted from person to person and appeared during the second week of illness.

How does COVID-19 spread?

Covid-19 spreads easily from person to person, just like influenza, through respiratory droplets from sneezing and coughing.

This Coronavirus is highly contagious and proliferative. The chances of infection are greater if the person is already having symptoms like flu, cough, and fever. Asymptotic persons may also have this virus.

The respiratory droplets of an infected person can travel till 6 feet and become the cause of virus transmission in other people who are within this range. Droplets land on surfaces and stay for many hours.

Usually, our hands pick up droplets and become the source of transmission via eyes, mouth, and nose

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

symptoms of COVID-19

Covid-19 causes acute respiratory syndrome in an infected person.  Patients develop flu-like symptoms initially followed by muscle and body aches, sore throat, and dry cough about a week after infection. [2]

The majority of patients undergo great physical and mental anguish through this virus for a week and get better on their own. Some people get the symptoms, but due to having a strong immune system, they don’t get as sick. A few patients’ conditions get worse and lead to death.

Such critical condition usually appears after 5-7 days of the disease developing acute symptoms like intense dry cough and shortness of breath. This is high time to see a doctor or rush to the hospital; otherwise, the disease is exacerbated may cause sudden death.

According to facts and figures, some individuals remain asymptotic; the majority of them are young children.

It is also necessary to differentiate between seasonal symptoms and COVID-19. It is normal to have a runny and stuffy nose, cough with sputum, and fever. If you are in contact with COVID-19 patients and your symptoms get worse, then you need to worry about it and rush to a doctor immediately.

Here we differentiate common, lesson common and frequent symptoms of COVID-19

Common Symptoms

  • Fever (85-90%)
  • Cough (65-70%)
  • Fatigue (35-40%)
  • Sputum production (30-35%)
  • Breath shortness (15-20%)

Less Common Symptoms

  • Myalgia  (10-15%)
  • Headaches (10-15%)
  • Sore throat (10-15%)
  • Chills (10-12%)
  • Pleuritic pain

Frequent symptoms

  • Vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, nasal congestion (<10%)
  • Chest tightness
  • Palpitations

Who are at risk of infected by COVID-19?

COVID-19 is a contagious disease that transmits from person to person rapidly. We cannot claim that some individuals are naturally immune to this virus, and people have antibodies to protect them.  Everyone can catch the virus easily, which shows that human beings are highly susceptible to it.

Individuals having a strong immune system and stable health have high recovery rates.

Children less than five years are at risk of catching this virus, and they have a bad outcome from contracting the disease comparatively adults. Likewise, people more than 60 years are also more susceptible to COVID-19. Old people are considered more vulnerable, as the majority of them have chronic diseases.

Besides, people who are drinkers, smokers, and immunocompromised are also at risk.

It seems like only 20% of infected people out 100% need to be hospitalized, and the rest of the people recover at home. It is better to contact a doctor and act according to his recommended instructions.

What should you do after detecting an infected individual with COVID-19?

If you find an infected individual, immediately keep yourself at a foot distance.  Give the person facemask and also cover your face with a mask. Avoid any contact such as a handshake, hug, or any kind of touch with the suspected person. [3]

What Is COVID-19, What Should You Be Worried About?

Put that person in an isolation room and call a doctor for further guidance. Inform others about the infected individual so that they also keep themselves away. In this way, we can minimize the chances of virus spread to a certain extent.

What are the precautionary measures of COVID-19?

The World Health Organization (WHO) is emphasizing on personal hygiene, notably hand hygiene, to mitigate its spread. Hand hygiene is not only concerned with washing hands before eating anything, or after using restrooms, it means washing hands regularly.

Avoid handshakes and hugs that are the main source of spread. Snots and sputum are respiratory secretions, and they are highly contagious, so the best practice is to cover your sneezes and coughs by using tissue papers and discard them at once.

Once you are done with sneezing or coughing, use hand sanitizer or wash hands properly after disposal of tissue paper.

Avoid going outside for unnecessary things. Always wear facemasks and carry hand sanitizers while going out. Staying home is one of the best practices during a virus outbreak. Once you catch the virus, keep yourself in isolation, and refrain from meeting with other individuals. 

Social distancing needs to be maintained for slowing down virus transmission. COVID-19 is not a deadly disease, and the fatality rate is quite low comparatively previous viruses.

We can only save ourselves by taking the right precautionary measures instead of getting panic.