The recent outbreak of coronavirus in China has led to the death of hundreds of people during little days (till this moment). It is creating lots of nightmare for people not only in China but also those living in other parts of the world. There are lots of research programs/studies being carried out to find out more about this life-threatening virus.
1 They are of different types
When coronavirus is mentioned, most people believe the press is only referring to one specific type of virus. This isn’t correct as they have been discovered to be of various types. These could be MERS, SARS, HKU1, OC43, NL63, AND 229E. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have been discovered to be the most severe amongst others. While SARS got discovered in 2002, MERS came into existence in 2012.
NCoV is another form of coronavirus which has recently been discovered in China. Experts claim it has some similarities with SARS, which has been mentioned above, most especially with regards to severity and mortality rate. The primary source of this virus is animals, and it has infected over 8,000 people in China, with almost 200 reported dead. A major fear is that such a death toll may increase once it spreads to other parts of the country.
2 How it works
When a series of tests were carried out on the affected patients, a symptom was present in all of them, which is pneumonia. It is a virus that affects the respiratory systems of its victims by making them malfunction. The first two patients who got killed were smokers. This made experts conclude that those with weakened lungs due to smoking habits may stand little or no chance of surviving when infected by the virus. In a nutshell, affected victims who are smokers can suffer from acute respiratory distress syndrome and failed lungs.
3 Countries affected
Although the recent outbreak of coronavirus can be traced to Wuhan (a location in China), it has spread to over 20 countries around the world. This takes the death rate to around 213 in the world. The victims being affected were mostly travelers from China or any of its neighboring countries. Some of the countries currently affected are the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Finland, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Malaysia, Australia, Vietnam, France, and the United States. There are concerns that the number of countries will only increase with time.
4 The false reports
Experts are claiming that the recent outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China has created more devastating effects than the Chinese government is claiming. In other words, the death rate it has caused is much higher than what has been reported by the government of China. This means that lots of patients must have been killed by this deadly virus, but they haven’t been included in the official records.
5 No treatment
Although governments and international organizations around the world are doing everything possible to fight against the deadly effects of coronavirus especially during pregnancy, there is no cure for it at the moment. Put, there is no vaccine or antiviral drug for treating coronaviruses. The only solution is ensuring the symptoms are alleviated and properly managed.
6 Its incubation period
In a recent research/study carried out by the World Health Organization, it was discovered that the incubation period for coronavirus is around 2-10days. Within this timeframe, affected patients are expected to suffer from its symptoms. It is exciting to know that despite all of the studies carried out by experts, no one knows whether infected victims can contaminate others during such a period.
7 Countries are evacuating
To prevent further spread of this virus, countries around the world are making efforts towards evacuating their nationals from Wuhan. Some of these countries are Britain, South Korea, France, Japan, Morocco, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, and Germany. Evacuated individuals will be kept in isolated areas in a bid to ascertain the state of their health. For instance, out of the 206 Japanese who were evacuated from Wuhan, 12 were discovered to have been infected. It should be noted that most of the countries are only evacuating their citizens who are currently in Wuhan. While this move has been kicked against by experts in some of these countries, pointing out that there is a chance of others being contaminated, there are those in full support of it. Governments are also seriously advising their citizens against non-essential trips to Wuhan, China.
8 Children can be affected easily
According to experts, children below 5years of age are easily affected by coronavirus as compared to adults. If you’ve got a child, ensure to give him a facial mask before leaving for school. Hand gloves can also be helpful in the case of coming in contact with infected victims. Measures such as this will help to reduce the chances of your child suffering from this virus.
9 Contamination can be prevented
Do you know that contaminating coronavirus can be reduced? Most people believe that coming in contact with those suffering from this virus will make them suffer the same fate. This isn’t true as contaminating it can be avoided. The only thing is ensuring you wash your hands as soon as possible after coming in contact with a person or object that has been contaminated. Ensure your hands are washed using soap and water frequently. Also, avoid touching those sensitive parts of your body like nose, eyes, and mouth.
10 The panic
It should be noted that the outbreak of coronavirus has created a severe panic in China and other parts of the world. This has been evident in how infected victims were locked in their apartments by government officials to prevent others from suffering the same fate. There is no doubt that the international community will find this inhumane.
