Coronavirus or COVID-19:
What is a coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that are very common across the world. Typical symptoms can vary from those of a common cold to fever and a cough that can progress to a severe lower respiratory tract chest infection (or pneumonia). Pneumonia can cause shortness of breath and difficulty breathing.
Coronaviruses can cause more severe symptoms if you already have a weakened immune system e.g you are elderly, diabetic, have cancer or a chronic lung condition.
Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus that was identified first in Wuhan city in China. The same symptoms present; these being a cough, high fever and shortness of breath.
The virus is mostly spread via cough and sneeze droplets but because it is a new strain we can’t be entirely sure if there are other mechanisms of spread at the moment.
How to contain the virus:
The best way to avoid catching or spreading these germs is:
- Cover your mouth with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze.
- Throw used tissues in the bin immediately
- Wash your hands with soap and water or use a hand sanitiser gel if soap is not available
- Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell.
- DON’T touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean.
If you have travelled, in the last 14 days from China (Hubei province), Iran, South Korea, Northern Italy (lockdown areas), call 111 and self isolate even if you do not have symptoms.
If you have travelled from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar then self isolate if you become symptomatic and contact 111
If you have had contact with coronavirus then self isolate and call 111 for advice. (https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19)
What is a Pandemic?
With the updates today (29/2/20) from the World Health Organisation and the Chief Medical Officer of England, it looks like a pandemic is more likely. So let’s clear up some of these terms first. Simply put, a pandemic means an epidemic disease has spread across the world. An epidemic disease is an infectious diseases that has spread rapidly to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time, usually two weeks or less and above what would be expected. An endemic disease exists at a low level in a community at any given time and it is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it. An example of this would be chicken pox.
It is important to remember that the risk of getting Coronavirus in the UK is still low and we can all carry about our normal days without alarm. The warnings that are being released are really about taking care. Countries are working hard to isolate and quarantine cases and the UK has a stringent quarantine system. If you want sensible, non-sensationalised information then have a look at the websites below. If you are worried about being unwell then use the 111 contacts to get further advice and stay isolated until you have been advised.
Advice for travelling abroad:
This is continually updated so it is best to check
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice
For more useful information:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
