30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
1- What is coronavirus, COVID-19 and coronavirus disease?
COVID-19 is a newly identified virus that first appeared in China in 2019. The virus belongs to corona group, which is a group of 29 viruses that affect humans and animals.
Corona viruses usually cause mild illness like cold and flu, and sometimes develop to severe acute respiratory syndrome SARS-CoV, or Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-CoV.
The virus is also known as SARS-CoV-2 as it belongs to nCoV strain, which has not been identified in humans before.
2- What is the source of coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are zoonotic, which means they transferred to humans through animals or mosquitoes. Investigations found that the new coronavirus probably was transmitted to humans through bats and pangolins, in Wuhan’s wild animals market. Other viruses like SARS-CoV was transmitted through civet cats, and MERS-CoV through dromedary camels.
What about pets, can they get or spread the infection?
I will list in my coming topics all information regarding coronavirus and pets, how to deal with them if you or they get the infection, and many others matters to help protect both the pet and its owner. But in general, ferrets are more likely to get COVID-19 than dogs, so you must provide balanced nutrition with vitamins, keep your house clean and keep your pet inside to prevent the contact with dust, surfaces, other pets and people too. As for dogs, try to minimize the outings and choose empty places where you can walk your dog safely, or keep a 6 ft distance like we do with humans. Also wash the pet’s feet when you return home, and NEVER use bleach solution or alcohol with pets.
Coronavirus questions and answers
3- How does the coronavirus spread?
There are many ways that contribute in the spreading of coronavirus, but the infection happens basically through coughs and sneezes.
Read about
How does the coronavirus spread.
Why COVID 19 Infections In Kids Are Less Than Adults?
4- Why does it spread quickly?
There is actually only one reason for spreading quickly, which is the direct contact between people as they don’t follow protective measures or stay in crowded places where infection is easily transmitted.
Coronavirus Questions And Answers
5- Can an infected person with COVID-19 spread the illness to others?
Sure, they can! The basic way coronavirus is transmitted is through direct contact with infected people. So, it is important to practice social distancing and keep your hands clean and disinfected.
For more protective measures view these informative topics:
– 14 tips on how to protect yourself from coronavirus.
– How to protect yourself from coronavirus when grocery shopping?
6- Should I wear a face mask during the coronavirus pandemic?
World health organization stated that wearing a face cover/cloth is essential in crowded places, like markets and transportation.
Read :
Do Face Masks Protect From Coronavirus?
7- What are the symptoms of coronavirus? And how do I know if I have COVID-19 or flu?
Coronavirus symptoms are fever, dry cough, headache, body and bone aches, chills, difficulty breathing, pneumonia and kidney failure.
Read the full detailed differences between :
COVID-19, cold, flu and seasonal allergies
What Are The Coronavirus Symptoms?
30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
8- Can people recover from coronavirus disease?
Sure, they can! It is likely, for healthy and young people, that the infection will take around 2 or 4 weeks and go away without hospitalization or medicine. Your immunity system is the best and most powerful defender, and the symptoms are just indication for your white blood cells fighting the virus and preventing it from invading the respiratory tract. To have a better understanding, if your immune system is strong and able to finish the virus, you will experience slight raise in temperature, less coughing and mild body aches. If your immune system is weak, or busy fighting chronic problems, then you will experience more symptoms like fever, severe aches, more coughs, etc.
10 Superfoods For Fighting Diseases
9- What is the recovery time for COVID-19?
People with mild symptoms may take just 2 weeks, depending on the immunity, while others with severe symptoms require up to 6 weeks. Some of them may need hospitalization and the elderly are at risk.
30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
10- How dangerous is coronavirus?
Coronavirus is not fatal for healthy people. It may cause severe symptoms, but rarely does it kill you. However, there are surely some people who are more vulnerable than others, like the elderly and those with heart/cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, immunity diseases, kidney problems and all chronic diseases in general.
11- Is there a treatment of vaccine for coronavirus?
There is no vaccine or treatment, until now, for coronavirus, but there are continous clinical experiments and trials to find medications. Scientists are also trying to develop a medicine using the antibodies extracted from the plasma of recovered people.
30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
12- Does consuming alcohol kill the coronavirus?
Certainly NO! Consuming alcohol in its disinfecting form is very dangerous because the concentration 70% will cause severe health problems and stomach bleeding, in addition to damaging the liver and brain cells. You should never drink alcohol to disinfect your throat for example, because the virus is a DNA that gets inside the throat cells trying to broaden its spread to the airways and down to the lungs.
13- Can I drink alcohol/spirits during the coronavirus pandemic?
It is better to reduce the consumption of alcohol during the corona outbreak. Alcoholic drinks/spirits have bad health effects in general, and they affect the immune system in particular. In addition to that, they contribute to liver damage and brain problems, as alcohol is a psychoactive substance known to lead to mental disorders. So, you should stop drinking if you have a history with mental disorders and depression, especially when you are living alone or in self-isolation.
30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
14- Is smoking a risk factor for coronavirus?
Yes! Smoking doesn’t just ham your mouth and respiratory tract. It is the main cause for most respiratory diseases and infections like cold, flu, pneumonia, asthma, tuberculosis, inflammations, etc.
Smoking is responsible for the development of COVID-19 symptoms, in infected people, and the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome, which is a key complication in COVID-19 cases who have severe symptoms.
30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
15- How to protect yourself from coronavirus?
You can protect yourself by reducing the exposure to the virus, or staying at home, and also avoid direct contact with anyone showing respiratory illness or symptoms.. Practice social distancing and hands/respiratory hygiene.
Read here:
Tips and protective measures against coronavirus
16- Will warm weather stop the coronavirus outbreak?
There is no evidence on such thing until now, although cold and flu are more likely to spread during winter, but that doesn’t mean they don’t in warm months… Because the existence of a virus is independent of temperature; It depends basically on how long can its DNA last outside the host cells “living being cells”.
So, cold and flu just spread more when people’s immunity get weaker in winter, and the direct contact between people encourages a higher ratio of infections during the cold months.
17- Does coronavirus spread in humid or rainy weather?
Yes! The spread of coronavirus, or SARS_CoV-2, is not dependent on climate changes. It depends on whether you are in direct contact with infected people or not.
18- What is community spread?
Community spread means that there is an area where a virus or some disease spreads between people, even if some of those people don’t know where or how they became infected. It is more of determining a geographic range for the spread of a disease, and each country or health department determines this differently based on local conditions.
19- Can mosquitoes or ticks spread coronavirus?
There is no evidence or data that suggests COVID-19 spreading through mosquito bites. Because it is mainly a respiratory disease that affects lung cells, not blood disease or infection circulating your blood. Exactly like the difference between Lyme disease and flu, does flu spread through injection or ticks bites? No!
Coronavirus spreads basically through droplets of saliva and nasal discharge, coughs and sneezes, or transmitting the infection from contaminated surface to your mouth or nose.
30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
20- Does coronavirus spread through food, restaurant take out, delivered food or frozen packages?
There are no reported cases of people infected through food, fresh produce, or grocery. But caution is recommended to all, when grocery shopping and when cooking as well. You should wash your hands for at least 20 seconds before and during cooking.
As for frozen food, restaurant and delivered food, there are no reported cases to date. But there is possibility that any food worker who gets infected, will spread the virus in their workspace, if they are not doing continuous hygiene. Then the risk will increase, if they are more likely to deal, prepare or package open food.
Read more information on:
How to receive delivery and food packages safely?
21- Does coronavirus spread by donating or receiving blood?
No! Coronavirus has nothing to do with your blood. It affects only the respiratory tract, so it is totally safe to donate and receive blood, if you are healthy and well. Blood donation is life saving and health care centers/hospitals encourage healthy people to donate blood, allowing enough space between beds and offering the highest safety levels for donators.
22- When will I start to be contagious after I get infected with coronavirus?
Usually after 48 hours of infection. The incubation period of COVID-19 is 14 days, and people start to experience/show symptoms within 4-5 days. That means people start to be contagious 48 hours before showing symptoms. So, this strengthens the recommendation for physical distancing and wearing masks, to reduce the risk that an infected person might spread the virus when, or even before, they are contagious.
30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
23- What to do if your child is infected with coronavirus?
It is better to seek medical help or advice in case of children and old people as well, because even if the symptoms are not severe they can develop quickly in a way that is difficult to control at home.
30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
24- Should I do COVID-19 test if I’m not showing symptoms?
No! If you are well, there is no need to undergo the test, until you show symptoms that are difficult to distinguish from other infections.
25- Can I get infected again after recovering from coronavirus?
Yes! Like cold and flu and other viral infections, you can get coronavirus again after recovery. Researches showed that the number of antibodies produced by the immune system, to fight certain disease, drops gradually within 2 to 3 months. And even the existence of the antibodies in your blood doesn’t guarantee the prevention of re-infection. It all depends on your immune system at that time.
26- When can I go out in public after recovering from coronavirus?
It is unknown actually, but according to research people stay contagious 10 days or more, after the resolution of symptoms. So, you should stay home for a while, and if there is a must to go out, carry alcohol spray, wear a mask, don’t touch surfaces and stay away from people; at least 6 ft.
27- What is self-isolation and self-quarantine?
There is some difference between both. Both are done to minimize the spread of infection, for example … People who are awaiting COVID-19 test results, and those with mild symptoms of cold and flu, or others who feel unwell in general, should stay at home in quarantine. In other words when you still don’t know if you have COVID-19 or not, and also those who already know they have been exposed to the virus, like when you live with someone who has been infected and already showing symptoms.
Self-quarantine is usually made for 14 days.
Speaking about self isolation, it is made when you are showing the symptoms or when your test results are positive. You can isolate yourself in your room or hospital if needed.
28- What should I have at home for self-isolation or quarantine?
First, enough food… Like canned foods, fresh fruits and vegetables that you can freeze and use, cereals, crackers, bread, pasta, rice, meats, honey, peanut butter, other foods that you may need and for sure enough amount of pet food.
Have at least 2 weeks supply of your prescribed medicine, thermometer, painkiller, vitamins, soap, alcohol bottles, sanitizers, paper towels, trash bags, toilet paper, tissues, detergents and cleaners, and other similar stuff.
29- What products to use for disinfecting for COVID-19?
Washing your hands and clothes should be done with soap and detergent, like you do every day. If you think you have been exposed to COVID-19, add some bleach to the washing water and disinfect your hands with alcohol.
As for your house, I personally prefer alcohol spray because it is less harmful than bleach, but since this can be expensive for some, you can make diluted bleach solution of 1 part bleach : 10 parts water. Use paper towel and spray the solution on everything you use frequently, wipe with paper towel and rinse with wet towel, if possible. Why we rinse? Because bleach can kill viruses but in fact it is toxic, so its better to rinse or wipe things with water, if you have children and pets.
30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
30- Can coronavirus spread through feces?
The probability that you will get infected through body waste is very low. No confirmed cases got infected from such source; only through direct contact, coughs or sneezes. A few cases (just 2-10%) experienced diarrhea among COVID-19 symptoms, but that’s normal for many viral infections.
If you are concerned, follow the common hygiene procedures you always do when you clean your bathroom or deal with body waste. Use bleach to clean and disinfect bathrooms and other things (like bed sheets) that might have any body fluids/waste on them. If you have symptoms, stay in your own room, don’t share clothes or any stuff, ensure that everything gets cleaned and sanitized regularly, and use a separate bathroom, if possible.
30 Most Informative Coronavirus Questions And Answers
References and images:
World Health Organization
Harvard Health And Education
Centers For Disease Control And Prevention