Coronavirus Basics

With the spread of coronavirus and increasing hysteria, a lot of fake information has been exchanged on the web. This article aims to explain the basics of coronavirus, such as it's symptoms, how you get it, what it's cure is, and other information. Without any delay, let's dive right into the info.

The Symptoms
The symptoms of coronavirus can vary based on person and age, but are generally as follows:
- Coughing (it is a respiratory infection)
- Fever
- Tiredness
- Difficulty breathing in severe cases

The symptoms are a real problem because of how vague they are. You obviously want to limit your exposure to the outside world, and you don't want to go to a hospital with other coronavirus patients for no reason, so make sure you don't have the common flu or cold before going to the hospital.

How you get coronavirus
While coronavirus started as a zoonotic disease from (it is speculated) either bats or pangolins, I would assume that most of you do not handle those on a regular basis. Rather, you are more likely to get coronavirus from human to human transmission. The human to human transmission has been confirmed by the CDC, and is the main reason that quarantine works to reduce the spread. It can also live on surfaces for a few hours, and up to a few days. If you are in public, always wear gloves, and when you come home, disinfect the doorknobs and anywhere else that many people touch regularly. However, your chances of getting coronavirus from a package you ordered are extremely low, though precautions should be taken. All of the information can be found here.

Coronavirus cure
There is no vaccine for coronavirus yet, though scientists are still working on it. If you believe you have mild symptoms of coronavirus, and you are a not at risk group, try to stay safe at home. Going to a hospital when your symptoms are mild puts more pressure on the staff who need to treat weaker people. If you have mild symptoms:
- Rest and sleep
- Keep yourself warm
- Drink lots of warm water
- Use a room humidifier and take hot showers if possible

There are a lot of fake cures on the internet, like zinc and other tablets. DO NOT TAKE ZINC. You should get an adequate amount if you regulate your diet, and taking too much zinc can cause to to "overdose." There is also a lot of speculation that taking malaria medication will treat coronavirus. This has not yet been confirmed or denied, so in the interest of not harming yourself, do not take it until further information comes out.

DO NOT LISTEN TO THE INTERNET. It may sound ironic, but please take everything with a grain of salt. Your best place for information is your doctor, or government approved sources like the CDC and WHO.

More in-depth view of coronavirus:

While this recent outbreak is being called "the Coronavirus," in reality, Covid-19 actually belongs to a family called coronavirus. It is named so because of the viruses "corona" or a haze around the virus. The virus spreads through coughing and airborne particles. COVID-19 is caused by a new coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in people and many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people such as with MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and now with this new virus (named SARS-CoV-2).

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a betacoronavirus, like MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. All three of these viruses have their origins in bats. The sequences from U.S. patients are similar to the one that China initially posted, suggesting a likely single, recent emergence of this virus from an animal reservoir.

Early on, many of the patients at the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China had some link to a large seafood and live animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. Later, a growing number of patients reportedly did not have exposure to animal markets, indicating person-to-person spread. Person-to-person spread was subsequently reported outside Hubei and in countries outside China, including in the United States. Most international destinations now have ongoing community spread with the virus that causes COVID-19, as does the United States. Community spread means some people have been infected and it is not known how or where they became exposed. 

This is all very important and further scientific research is currently being done in this field. 

If you have any other questions or anything I missed, please leave a comment. Thanks for reading!