How to protect yourself from Corona Virus?
How to protect
yourself from Corona Virus?
The year 2020 has begun with this very simple question on
every person’s mind. The end of year 2019 was marked by the emergence of a new
disease that has spread very quickly and widely and was not known to humans
before. This is a new strain of the corona virus and has emerged from China’s
city of Wuhan in 2019. It has infected about 194515 people ever since in China
alone, and around 7893 lives have been taken. These are the confirmed records and
there might be countless unidentified cases.
Some worldwide cases have also been confirmed in USA, UAE,
Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Russia, Iran, Korea and Australia etc. The
number of the victims and the deceased are increasing each day and the World
Health Organization (WHO) has announced an international emergency situation
where strong steps need to be taken to control the virus if we are to escape a
worldwide epidemic.
The previous versions of corona virus have experienced
sudden worldwide outbreaks as well but the newest and most recently evolved
form of the corona virus is first to be found in Wuhan, China in 2019. It was
officially identified and recorded on January 7th 2020 as a new
unmatched virus and named the COVID-19. Researches are being carried out to
trace the animal or the source through which the virus first started spreading
and the preparation of a corona virus vaccine to help the healthy from getting
infected.
WHO claims a vaccine might be ready by year 2020 but since
reliable and established vaccines take years to develop, the vaccine will be
used for testing.
It is crucial to learn everything you can, about protection
against corona virus to safeguard yourself and your family members from its
newest version. The only way you can protect your family from this virus is to
protect yourself from it first. This is because, it has been officially confirmed
that the virus can transmit easily from human to human. This only means that
the virus can spread even more.
The virus infects a person’s nasal passages at first and the
symptoms are quite similar to ordinary flu and cough. This makes the virus
quite deadly, because a person to person infection involves the surrounding air
and close breathing. Obviously, the virus can also be inhaled through hands, touching
other objects or ingesting with food. Currently, this is the only possible mode
of transmission but authorities claim that because of a lack of initial research
there is a possibility of an undiscovered route for the corona virus to enter
the human body.
So how do people get killed? The initial symptoms match
ordinary cold, flu and, fever but if the condition aggravates victims develop severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and,
kidney failure, all of which can prove fatal.
What are the steps we can take to prevent and control the
spread of this deadly disease?
WASH YOUR HANDS OR
SANITIZE THEM
Wash your hands with soap thoroughly and do this at
intervals and before meals. If your job requires interaction with objects used
by many people, all the more reason to do so. A thorough wash means letting the
tap water run and using soap and rubbing for 30 seconds at least. This will
clean your hand and eliminate the virus when it hasn’t infected you yet. Keep a
small bottle of hand sanitizer with you at all times and use at intervals and
before meals whether at school or at work. The alcohol-based hand sanitizer is
extremely convenient because it can be used while travelling. So make sure each
family member is equipped with one including your kids.
TAKE CARE OF
RESPIRATORY HYGIENE (COVER YOUR MOUTH WITH A TISSUE AND NOT YOUR HANDS AND
DISCARD QUICKLY)
When you need to cough or sneeze, cover your mouth but not
with your hands. Cover them with a bent elbow or a tissue. Discard the tissue
quickly without placing it anywhere else and sanitize your hands once again or
wash them.
You need to cover
your face while coughing because you can infect the surrounding people as they
inhale the virus molecules you exhaled. Essentially, you cannot use your hands
or else you might contaminate them which in turn will contaminate numerous
other objects as you touch them.
DISTANCE YOURSELF
FROM PEOPLE (INTERACT FROM A 3 FEET DISTANCE)
This might sound outrageous at first, but you explicitly
need to understand just how grave it is to distance yourself from people while
you are interacting with them because a fatal, previously unknown virus is
spreading through the air which puts every breathing species in danger.
The Science behind is simple. An infected person, exhales
infected water droplets into the air, so anyone in close proximity can directly
inhale them and build an infection. If you would like not to directly inhale
these molecules then maintain a one meter distance or a 3 feet distance with
every one indiscriminately.
You might ask, how is
it possible not to inhale the virus from a meter distance? A virus cannot
survive outside a living cell. For any transmission to occur two people need to
closely interact with each other. Nonetheless, you need to remember two things.
You can get the virus by touching contaminated objects. And that
a person with corona virus can appear asymptomatic. Which means they appear
completely healthy and without symptoms but they can still transmit the virus
to other people. So distance yourself from people indiscriminately.
DO NOT TOUCH YOUR
EYES, MOUTH OR FACE
As explained, you can contract the virus by touching
contaminated objects and then transferring them to your own body. It cannot be
emphasized enough, if you use objects touched by many people, sanitize your
hands often.
DO NOT COSUME RAW OR UNDERCOOKED
ANIMALS PRODUCTS
Cook
meat adequately to eliminate any virus or other microbes in it. Undercooked
meat can still be contaminated. As a precaution, also handle uncooked meat,
dairy products or any other part of animal separately. Do not intermix with other
food to avoid cross-contamination.
Here I
would also like to point out that, cook out or adequately heat all your meals whether
they are animal products or not because if someone with corona virus has
handled or wrapped the food for you, adequate heat will eliminate the virus.
You might also want to avoid eating out of home completely
which means no street foods, no ordered meals and no undercooked animal products.
IF YOU ARE HAVING A
COLD, FLU, FEVER AND BREATHING DIFFICULTIES, VISIT A DOCTOR EARLY INSTEAD OF
DELAYING IT
Report your symptoms to your doctor and tell them if you’ve
recently travelled to China or met someone who has travelled to China or is
showing symptoms.
What might appear as ordinary cold and fever can be related
to a severe respiratory infection which only a skilled doctor can diagnose.
There are more chances to recover from a chronic disease if it is diagnosed
early.
In case you are diagnosed with the corona virus, getting
diagnosed early will not only help you in controlling your condition but also
save many people close to you from getting an infection.
IN CASE YOU ARE
HAVING VERY MILD BREATHING DIFFICULTIES, STAY AT HOME AND REST INORDER TO
RECOVER
If you’ve not travelled to China and not interacted recently
with someone who has visited China recently, then you can stay at home to recover.
You can do this if your symptoms are not acute and can be controlled with
adequate amounts of rest and healthy food.
TAKE SUITABLE PRECAUTIONARY STEPS AND PRACTICE EXTRA HYGIENE WHILE
VISITING LIVE ANIMAL MARKETS, ANIMAL PRODUCT MARKETS, THE BUTCHER’S AND WET
MARKETS(SHOPS THAT SELL FRESH ANIMAL PRODUCE)
Wash your hands carefully with soap
immediately with potable (adequate for drinking) water after touching animals
or animal products with your hands. Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth while
still inside the market or after. Avoid touching spoiled animal products or
meat. Often stray animals like dogs, cats, rats, birds, bats or rodents make
their way inside the market in search of food but you should avoid interaction
with them.
STAY AWAY
FROM ALL ANIMAL SPECIES SPECIFICALLY SICK OR INJURED ANIMALS
Be it farm livestock or other stray animals
wandering on the roads you need to avoid interacting with without a justifiable
reason because the corona virus or the covid-19 is known to have originated
from an animal species. Infected animals can also cross infect other animal
species just like in case of the humans so avoid unnecessary contact. Needless
to say animal secretions or feces lying on shop pavements, grounds or buildings
can also be contaminated and you would want to avoid getting near them.
If you are an animal care taker at home then
wash your hands and sanitize them after throwing or handling animal waste.
This is a global high-alert situation and we intent to
spread information to all those who need to know how to protect themselves
against the corona virus or nCov-19. We will never withhold essential
information from you afraid of instigating panic because life is very precious.
Knowing adequate information should not create panic in us but should equip us
with substantial knowledge and strength to defeat the virus.
Research Sources
WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION OFFICIAL GUIDE FOR PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF CORONA VIRUS OR
nCov-19
WHERE DID THE CORONA
VIRUS ORGIGINATE AND AREAS IT HAS SPREAD TO.
CHINESE DOCTORS AND
RESEARCHERS CONFIRM HUMAN-TO-HUMAN TRANSMISSION OF THE CORONA VIRUS
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