Coronavirus- What You Need To Know
Whilst first coming to everyone’s attention at the end of 2019, news of the first cases of Coronavirus on the island of Ireland was released in the past few days.
With this in mind, we are taking a look at the coronavirus and what you need to know about the disease.
What is Coronavirus?
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) “coronavirus (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).”
Where did the Coronavirus Come From?
Coronaviruses are zoonotic. This means that they are transmitted between animals and people. Much research has been conducted in the hopes of finding the animal source of coronavirus that was passed onto humans but no perfect match has yet been found between the coronavirus strain being found in humans (COVID-19) and that found in animals. Nature.com reports “So far, the closest match to the human coronavirus has been found in a bat in China’s Yunnan province. A study published on 3 February found that the bat coronavirus shared 96% of its genetic material with the virus that causes COVID-19. Bats could have passed the virus to humans, but there are key differences between the RBD sites in the two viruses”
Symptoms
WHO has said “Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.”
How Do I Know If I have Coronavirus?
If you are showing the symptoms listed above and in the past 14 days have been:
in close contact with a confirmed case of coronavirus
to a country or region with a spread of coronavirus
in a healthcare centre or hospital where patients with coronavirus were being treated
(HSE.ie)
If You Think You Have Coronavirus...
The HSE has advised that symptoms may take up to 14 days to appear. If you think you, or a member of your family may have the disease you should not go to your local GP’s surgery or clinic, you should stay home from work/school and call your doctor. If you don’t have a doctor call 999 or 112. They will ask you to explain your symptoms and further steps may be taken.
Prevention
Guidelines as to how to prevent the spread of infection have been released.
These include:
Thoroughly wash your hands with warm, soapy water on a regular basis.
Use alcohol based hand sanitiser when out and about.
Cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing, preferably with a tissue.
If you don’t have a tissue to hand, cough or sneeze into your elbow not your hand. Coughing or sneezing into your hand means germs end up on surfaces you touch and infection is easily spread.
Thoroughly cook meat and eggs.
Avoid contact with those displaying symptoms.
(WHO).
