Like many of you I have been having anxiety about what has been going on in our world. The sudden changes – restaurants closing, businesses closing, schools closing – it’s no wonder people are in a panic. We hear and see almost every hour new information about the COVID-19 virus. I decided that I should do some research. Knowledge is power, right? So, to ease my mind I wanted to take out the media and the politics and just see some solid facts about this virus. The purpose of this post is to not start a debate, an argument or to throw politics into the mix. It’s to just lay down some key facts that I pulled from the CDC and the ECDC website. I just needed a place to start to help myself. Here’s what I found. 

Let’s start at the beginning. 

The “corona” virus or COVID-19 is in the family of viruses that we are familiar with. Heard of SARS? It is a betacoronavirus, and the CDC suggests that this strain came 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” (CDC, 2020). 

So, we know the where and what about the virus. But what about the how? How is this spread? 

The CDC reports that the virus is spread by person-to-person contact (within 6 feet), through respiratory droplets (like if someone coughs or sneezes, this particles can end up in your nose or mouth and go to your lungs), and while this is not a main cause of contamination, surfaces (CDC, 2020). 

Now for the why. Why is it so important for this virus to not spread?

“The concern about COVID-19 is that, unlike influenza, there is no vaccine and no specific treatment for the disease. It also appears to be as transmissible as influenza if not more so. As it is a new virus, nobody has prior immunity which in theory means that the entire human population is potentially susceptible to COVID-19 infection” (EDCD, 2020). 

For some, this virus may not seem like a big deal. You’re healthy. You’re young. You’re pretty much invincible, right? The past few days I have read posts about how you know more immunosuppressed people than you think. While everyone is upset that businesses are closing, that our way of life has hit quite the curb, let’s stop and think for a moment. I can’t tell you how many times a day I need to take a deep breath to keep calm and not panic. Trust me, I am really panicking internally. So, if you see me just sitting there, know that I am probably having a panic attack about all this, just like you are. 

Helpful links:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/novel-coronavirus-china/questions-answers