Everything You Need To Know About COVID-19
Image: The Public Health Library from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A Chinese gentleman takes a reading break from all the noise. Photo: Lucrezia Carnelos
There’s no doubt, guys, these are trying times.
But if there’s anything more loathsome than a 21st century virus, it’s the misinformation it spreads. One person says it’s airborne, the other swears it’s not. One reports says one thing, the other the opposite. It can get maddening.
To be clear, we’re not presuming to be experts on this stuff. To the contrary, we’re leaving it to the pros to tell you exactly what to expect from COVID-19 and how to best deal with it.
We’ve used our purest judgment to aggregate all the latest facts and quotes you need to know about this virus and how to fight it. And, without leaning on any sort of political bias, we’ve sourced only reputable and studied names in health sciences for everything you’ll read below.
Here we go.
What is COVID-19? This is the official name of a new kind of coronavirus that humanity has never faced before, as per the World Health Organization.
Source: World Health Organization.
Wait, what’s a coronavirus? The better question is, what are coronaviruses? We’re talking about a family of different viruses here, and from what we gather, they all go right for our respiratory systems. In fact, the common cold qualifies as a type of coronavirus. Remember SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)? That was one of them, too.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Where did this come from? Right now, all official sources point toward a city in China called Wuhan as the origin of COVID-19. Wuhan’s the capital of a province called Hubei. That said, we think the recent discrimination of Asians for this is plain wrong, and are fully against it.
“Coronaviruses are zoonotic, which means they transmit from animals to people. Some coronaviruses, like COVID-19, transmit from person to person. COVID-19 most likely skipped from animals into people at a wild animal market in Wuhan, China.”
— Alanna Shaikh, Global Health Expert and Author of What’s Killing Us: A Practical Guide to Understanding Our Biggest Global Health Problems
What are the symptoms? “They’re a lot like what we’d see with the influenza virus, so things like fever, dry cough, sore throat, muscle aches, headaches, those kinds of things. Unfortunately there’s no one specific symptom to associate with this virus.”
— Dr. Samira Mubareka, Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto, Ontario
Dr. Mubareka also confirmed that severe cases can lead to pneumonia.
“Hand antiseptics and hand washing with soap and water is still your best defence against this…and the other important feature to remember is the portals of entry are your eyes, mouth and nose.”
— Natasha Salt, Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario.
How Does It Spread? What we know as of now is that it’s spread when infected people cough or exhale. One of two things can happen after that: 1. When said coughs are breathed in by people close by, so are the droplets they contain, which, in turn, carry the virus. 2. When those droplets land on hard surfaces, like tables or door handles, people who touch those surfaces can get infected by then touching their eyes or mouth.
Source: World Health Organization
What can be done to help fight this? Besides washing your hands like clockwork and using hand sanitizers, the one thing you’ll hear every health pro repeat is social distancing. “Avoid large pubic gatherings and physical space with others…practice social distancing whenever and wherever you can,” asks Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Officer of Public Health Canada. Cut out the hand shakes and hugs for now, ladies and gentlemen.
“My job is not to scare you out of your wits, it’s to scare you into your wits.”
— Michael Osterholm, American Public Health Scientist and Infectious Disease Expert (The Joe Rogan Experience podcast)
What If I’m Abroad Right Now?
“We are asking all travellers to voluntarily self-isolate [for 14 days after they land]…that’s all travellers outside of Canada.”
— Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada
Is Canada banning flights from certain countries, like Trump has? No, but according to an exclusive interview Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, had with CTV News today, it’s “not off the table.”
Update (03/23/20): The Public Health Agency of Canada is asking Canadians to not travel—unless it’s absolutely essential—until further notice.
Source: ctvnews.ca
What if I show symptoms? Our country isn’t on lockdown (yet), so no one’s going to force you to stay inside. But you’re a grown-ass adult, so if you feel unwell, stay inside and call your doctor.
Source: Public Health Agency of Canada
As you know, this story’s evolving fast, as is the science behind the virus, so one of the best ways to keep abreast of it is via the Public Health Agency of Canada at canada.ca.
They’ve got everything covered, from detailed information on the virus to travel updates.
But if there’s one thing you should definitely do, it’s not panic.
Freaking out’s never gotten anyone anywhere. Now’s the time for vigilance, patience, and strength. Protect the ones you love, put facts in place of fear, and most of all, stay alert.
We’ve made it through worse, and we’ll make it through this.
And for what it’s worth, here’s some good news:
“Remember, the vast majority of people who get this infection will be just fine. What we’re doing is preventing the vulnerable populations from having a more severe outcome. But the vast majority are going to be okay.”
— Dr. Isaac Bogoch, Infectious Disease Specialist at Toronto General Hospital
When art gets real. Photo: Daniel Tafjord