Information 101 and the Coronavirus

What is the Coronavirus?

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (SARS-CoV-2), also known as COVID-19 is a new species of coronavirus. The coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that range from the common cold to some of the most serious illnesses like SARS. We discovered this new species in the December of 2019 and it was discovered in the city of Wuhan, China. According to the World Health Organization, "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness. The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow)." 

How did we discover the coronavirus?

We now know that the virus that causes COVID-19 was discovered in Wuhan, China in late 2019. According to webmd.com,"Experts say SARS-CoV-2 originated in bats. That’s also how the coronaviruses behind Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) got started. SARS-CoV-2 made the jump to humans at one of Wuhan’s open-air “wet markets.” They’re where customers buy fresh meat and fish, including animals that are killed on the spot. Some wet markets sell wild or banned species like cobras, wild boars, and raccoon dogs. Crowded conditions can let viruses from different animals swap genes. Sometimes the virus changes so much it can start to infect and spread among people. Still, the Wuhan market didn’t sell bats at the time of the outbreak. That’s why early suspicion also fell on pangolins, also called scaly anteaters, which are sold illegally in some markets in China. Some coronaviruses that infect pangolins are similar to SARS-CoV-2. As SARS-CoV-2 spread both inside and outside China, it infected people who have had no direct contact with animals. That meant the virus is transmitted from one human to another. It’s now spreading in the U.S. and around the globe, meaning that people are unwittingly catching and passing on the coronavirus. This growing worldwide transmission is what is now a pandemic,". 

Is there a vaccine?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given emergency use authorization for three COVID-19 vaccines.

How can you get the virus?

You can get the coronavirus through respiratory droplets, for example if an infected person sneezed and wasn't wearing a mask or sneezing into their elbow, respiratory droplets would be released and if you were not wearing a face mask and breathed in the air, you could have breathed in some respiratory droplets and became infected with the virus. That's how easy it is to get infected with the virus. See the next section for information on what to do if you are infected with the virus

What to do if you are infected

Stay away from others and stay in a designated area and if possible, have a designated bathroom for your own use. Staying away from others helps protect others from getting the virus. The next section explains what you can do to prevent getting COVID-19.

For more information, visit:

https://www.who.int/

https://www.cdc.gov/

How to prevent getting COVID-19

Here are some simple steps you can take to prevent getting COVID-19.

Stay at home when possible, because it's better to be safe than sorry.

When you have to go outside, take a face mask with you. They slow down the spread of the virus.

When going out, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with an alcohol based soap.

If you can't wash your hands, use an alcohol based hand sanitizer.

Even if you are just a little sick, stay at home. You don't want to risk getting others sick.

Can you think of other ways to stay safe during this pandemic? Let us know in the comments.

Want more information?

If you want more information, you can visit https://www.who.int or https://cdc.gov. There are more websites with information, but I just went with 2 websites to start with. If you know a website that has good information, tell us in the comments.

Sources

We used information from the following websites: https://www.who.int, https://cdc.gov, and https://www.webmd.com. You can visit these websites for more info about the virus.

Comments and thoughts

Use these comments to share thoughts and discuss the virus. Never say something mean because being mean is not cool.