Coronavirus Backgrounder
WHAT IS THE CORONAVIRUS?
CDC and many other sources have been monitoring and studying a new outbreak called the
Coronavirus (“2019-nCOV”) that was detected in Wuhan City, China. Coronavirus are a family of
viruses that contain strains that can potentially cause death in mammals and birds. This virus is
deadly to humans due to it being airborne droplets of fluid by infected individuals. A rare strain is
the ‘Wuhan coronavirus’ and that can affect the respiratory system and lead to death in humans.
The Coronavirus gets its name from crown of sugary proteins that project the envelope surround
the particle according scienecealert.com. According to
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001191 “On December 31, 2019, China
reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia in people associated with the Huanan Seafood
Wholesale Market in Wuhan, Hubei Province.1 On January 7, 2020, Chinese health authorities
confirmed that this cluster was associated with a novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV.2”
At this time it is unclear whether this virus is spreading between people.
WHAT ARE SYMPTOMS OF THE CORONAVIRUS?
For confirmed cases and reported illnesses have varied from people showing little to no
symptoms to people being very ill and ultimately dying. Symptoms of this disease can include;
fevers, coughing and shortness of breath. In more serious cases, it can lead to respiratory
failure, kidney failure and pneumonia. These symptoms are believed to appear in as few as two
days or as long as up to 14 days after exposure.
HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED?
This number changes every day because of its new up coming. As of 2/10/2020, more than
40,000 people were affected (39,500 of those cases are in China) and 1,000 have died (998
deaths in China, 1 each in Hong Kong and The Philippines) from the coronavirus. These
numbers are expected to rise as the virus spreads. In the past week, an average of 2,656 cases
of new infections have emerged each day.
Tracking the data of # infected and death toll by date (from the World Ometer update)
Date: Jan. 22nd
- 579 infected cases
- 25 death toll
Date: Jan. 25
- 2,015 infected cases
- 56 death toll
Date: Jan. 28th
- 6,058 infected cases
- 132 death toll
Date: February 1
- 14,552 infected cases
- 304 death toll
Date: February 6
31,439 infected cases
- 638 death toll
Date: February 11
- 45,170 infected cases
- 1,115 death toll
WHAT CAUSES THE CORONAVIRUS?
The core of the coronavirus contains a genetic material that the virus can inject into weak cells
that are susceptible cells. Once the virus has latched itself to the new host cell, the virus turns
the cell into a factory that starts producing more viruses throughout other cells and spreads. The
virus can be transmitted between people through respiratory acts such as; coughs, sneezes and
breathing by people who are already infected. Healthy hygiene is important in preventing this
disease and its spread.
HOW IS THE CORONAVIRUS DIAGNOSED?
The coronavirus can be diagnosed through testing samples of respiratory fluids. A new
laboratory kit was developed for the use of testing patients specimen to help detect the virus.
The test kit is called “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2019-Novel
Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase (RT)-PCR Diagnostic Panel.”
WHAT TREATMENTS AND PREVENTIONS ARE AVAILABLE?
There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus. The most encouraged way to prevent
yourself from receiving this disease is to avoid being exposed by the virus.
What the public should do and ways to help prevent include:
- It is current flu season and CDC recommends getting a flu vaccine and taking everyday
actions to limit yourself from and the action of spreading germ
- avoid close contact with others who are sick, wash your hands and avoid touching your
eyes, nose and mouth, cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and dispose of that
tissue into a trash, clean surrounding objects with wipes or spray. Facemasks should be
used by people who are showing symptoms of the infection.
There is no antiviral treatment developed yet to fight the disease. People who are infected by
this should receive medical care to help diminish symptoms and relieve pain.
Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/about/index.html - details on what the coronavirus is,
symptoms, treatments
https://www.sciencealert.com/coronavirus - information on symptoms and prevention methods
from the virus
https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus - information coronavirus treatments and how to
avoid
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ - statistical data coronavirus number of infected
death toll tracking by dates
https://www.livescience.com/what-are-coronaviruses.html
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/256521.php#types - information on how the
coronavirus can spread
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001191 - details of the first detected case of the
coronavirus
