Coronavirus Is Here: What We Know So Far

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Over the past few weeks we’ve been confronted with daily reports about the coronavirus, but a lot of the information out there is confusing or contradictory. To start with, it’s a coronavirus, not the coronavirus. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a coronavirus is part of a large virus family, responsible for illnesses like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). The condition that is currently in the news is a novel coronavirus — meaning that it’s a new strain that hadn’t previously been identified in humans. The illness associated with it has been named COVID-19, which stands for “coronavirus disease 2019.”

Ever since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019, concern — now bordering on panic — has disseminated along with misinformation and plenty of rumors. In order to separate fact from fiction, Rolling Stone spoke with several medical experts on this novel coronavirus. Here’s what we found out.

Do we know how it’s transmitted?

Based on what we know now, COVID-19 appears to be transmitted through small droplets of spit that become airborne when an infected person coughs, exhales or sneezes. “If you inhale these particles or touch them on surfaces and then touch your mouth or nose you could become infected,” Dr. Jennifer Haythe, an internist and a critical care cardiologist at Columbia University Center tells Rolling Stone. “This is similar to other common viruses like influenza.”

There are reports that the virus may also be transmitted through a fecal route, though Haythe says that this is not the major form of transmission. According to Dr. Michael Hall, a physician and CDC vaccine provider at Hall Longevity Clinic in Miami, Florida, when someone flushes stool, it becomes atomized, and the virus may be spreading from the toilet into the atmosphere in that way. New research from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention published on February 15th, found that people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 had the live virus in their stool samples, confirming this as a possible transmission route. Specifically, there is concern over fecal-oral transmission, which could happen if someone prepares food with hands that are contaminated — though of course that risk can be minimized with the frequent and thorough washing of hands, as health officials have recommended. There has been concern over possible COVID-19 transmission through pets — especially cats and dogs — there is no hard data to back this up.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/coronavirus-mask-transmission-pets-testing-men-questions-959765/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. I happen to do volunteer work at a local homeless shelter.

I help fix and serve meals. I was there a while back when the health inspector came in and sat us down and explained carefully about certain things to make sure the food we fix and serve is safe. Ever since then I've been very aware of this.

The homeless are a vulnerable population. I am not myself (as an annoyingly healthy person) very likely to catch anything from them, but they are far more likely to catch something from me or any other person.

The main thing the time with the health inspector did for me is to make me scrupulous about hand-washing. I'd long known that regular hand-washing is the single most effective health measure out there.