What Is a Coronavirus?
A coronavirus is a kind of common virus that causes an infection in your nose, sinuses, or upper throat.They’re called coronaviruses because under a microscope, they look like a crown.
Most coronaviruses aren’t dangerous. But in early 2020, after a December 2019 outbreak in China, the World Health Organization identified a new type of coronavirus. Officials named this new virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This is the virus that causes COVID-19.
What Is COVID-19?
Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, is a disease that can cause what doctors call a respiratory tract infection. It can affect your upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) or lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs).
The COVID-19 outbreak quickly spread around the world. It spreads the same way other coronaviruses do, mainly through person-to-person contact. Infections range from mild to serious.
COVID-19 is one of seven types of coronavirus, including the ones that cause severe diseases like Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The other coronaviruses cause most of the colds that affect us during the year but aren’t a serious threat for otherwise healthy people.
What Are the Symptoms of COVID-19?
Early symptoms include:
•Fever
•Dry Cough
•Fatigue
The virus can lead to pneumonia, respiratory failure, septic shock, and death. If you notice these severe symptoms in yourself or a loved one, get medical attention right away:
•Trouble breathing or shortness of breath
•Ongoing chest pain or pressure
•New confusion
•Can’t wake up
•Bluish lips or face
If you’re exposed and infected, symptoms can show up in as few as 2 days or as many as 14. It varies from person to person.
Coronavirus by the numbers
The coronavirus outbreak has seen more than 152,000 recover from infection as of Monday, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
The virus, which was first detected in Wuhan, a city in China’s Hubei province, has affected more than 723,700 people across nearly 177 countries and regions. Around 82,150 cases have been confirmed in China, although the U.S. now has the largest number of cases in the world. It has more than 143,000 confirmed infections, with 4,685 recoveries.
China has seen over 90 percent of its confirmed infected population recover, reporting some 75,900 recoveries as of Monday morning. With more cases now being reported outside China than within, the country claims the outbreak has been largely contained.
Number of COVID-19 cases compared to recoveries.
A graphic provided by Statista shows the global spread of the new coronavirus as of early March 27. More than 570,000 people have been afflicted, nearly 130,000 of whom have recovered and nearly 26,000 of whom have died.
Courtesy of By Soo Kim of Newsweek and webmd
