There is a spread of a novel coronavirus that is wreaking havoc on the city of Wuhan located in the Hubei province of China. The outbreak of the virus began early in December of 2019 and has continued to spread. The people who were the first ones to become infected were all linked to the South China Seafood Wholesale Market which has been closed ever since.
Thousands of cases have been reported by health officials in China. There are also cases that have been identified in other countries, mostly spread by the people traveling out of China, including Chinese people or the people returning from China to their respective countries. The virus can spread from one person to another through contact or even just being in the proximity of the infected person.
Over 20 countries have reported cases, including Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Vietnam, Australia, France, the United States, India, the UK, etc. and many other countries have set up screening centers for the people coming from China.
This is a large family of viruses that are collectively known as the coronavirus. Most of the known coronavirus symptoms only have simple effects on the people such as giving them a mild respiratory disease like the common cold, but there have been two such cases of the coronavirus that have shown massive effects on the infected which are Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus.
Symptoms:
Fever, coughing, and difficulty breathing are some of the signs and symptoms which have been observed in the people infected. Some of the patients have also reported having a sore throat. There’s been some speculation about the severe disease-causing potential of the novel coronavirus although these claims are not supported with proper proof. People with chronic illnesses and aged patients might pose greater chances of having a severe disease as a result of this virus.
Risk
The people who are living or traveling around the area where the virus is prevalent are at a high risk of infection according to the WHO. Currently, the virus is only present in China and all of the non-residents of China who have been infected have traveled to China recently and have been in contact with the infected people who are from China.
So, according to WHO, the risk to the people who are not living in China is very low as long as you don’t come into contact with one of the non-resident Chinese people who are infected. Also, the WHO states that simple disinfectants can easily dispose of the virus if it is present on a surface and also the survival time of the virus on any surface is pretty low.
Conclusion:
This article shares all of the symptoms to look out for if you think that you might be affected by the virus, but if you’re a non-resident and have not been in contact with anyone traveling from China, you have no chance of catching the virus.
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