The World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared that the Coronavirus is now a “global health emergency”. There are about 2800 people dead from illness, (at the time this article was written) Canada now has 13 confirmed cases. But what exactly IS the Coronavirus?
Coronavirus is a large family of viruses originated from Wuhan, China; and it has been a global concern since the beginning of 2020. It is a zoonotic (transmitted from animal to human) disease passed on from bats to humans. Because the Chinese consume bats for good fortune, they were, unfortunately, the first to be infected by this illness.
Coronavirus can cause diseases ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases like SARS and MERS. Since the Coronavirus is a new disease that has not been previously identified, there are no vaccines to protect us from it.
Symptoms of the Coronavirus include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death can be caused. However, because the Coronavirus has an incubation period of about two weeks, it makes it more difficult to distinguish the presence of the illness.
You can stay healthy and prevent the spread by washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands, avoid close contact with people who are sick, coughing or sneezing into your sleeve and not your hands, and staying home if you are sick to avoid spreading illness to others.
You might have seen some people stocking up on their masks to cover their mouth and nose, but that is unnecessary. Wearing masks is only crucial to prevent the ill people from spreading the disease further, but nothing more.
If you want updates on the current situation, visit this website.
Let’s all hope that the Black Plague does not repeat itself and that everyone will get through this safely. Stay strong guys.
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