Topic about Coronavirus

Coronavirus

         Some types of coronaviruses are serious, though. About 858 people have died from the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which first appeared in 2012 in Saudi Arabia and then in other countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe. In April 2014, the first American was hospitalized for MERS in Indiana and another case was reported in Florida. Both had just returned from Saudi Arabia. In May 2015, there was an outbreak of MERS in Korea, which was the largest outbreak outside of the Arabian Peninsula. In 2003, 774 people died from a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak. As of 2015, there were no further reports of cases of SARS. 

But In early 2020, following a December 2019 outbreak in China, the World Health Organization identified a new type, 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

Often a coronavirus causes upper respiratory infection symptoms like a stuffy nose, cough, and sore throat. You can treat them with rest and over-the-counter medication. The coronavirus can also cause middle ear infections in children.

What is a Coronavirus?

         Coronaviruses were first identified in the 1960s, but we don't know where they come from. They get their name from their crown-like shape. Sometimes, but not often, a coronavirus can infect both animals and humans.

Most coronaviruses spread the same way other cold-causing viruses do: through infected people coughing and sneezing, by touching an infected person's hands or face, or by touching things such as doorknobs that infected people have touched.

Almost everyone gets a coronavirus infection at least once in their life, most likely as a young child. In the United States, coronaviruses are more common in the fall and winter, but anyone can come down with a coronavirus infection at any time.

1 - What is a Coronavirus?

Common Symptoms of Coronavirus

     The symptoms of most coronaviruses are similar to any other upper respiratory infection, including runny nose, coughing, sore throat, and sometimes a fever. In most cases, you won't know whether you have a coronavirus or a different cold-causing virus, such as rhinovirus.

You could get lab tests, including nose and throat cultures and blood work, to find out whether your cold was caused by a coronavirus, but there's no reason to. The test results wouldn't change how you treat your symptoms, which typically go away in a few days.

But if a coronavirus infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract (your windpipe and your lungs), it can cause pneumonia, especially in older people, people with heart disease, or people with weakened immune systems.

What to Do About Coronavirus

       There is no vaccine for coronavirus. To help prevent a coronavirus infection, do the same things you do to avoid the common cold:

• Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water or with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Keep your hands and fingers away from your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Avoid close contact with infected people.

You treat a coronavirus infection the same way you treat a cold:

• Get plenty of rest.
• Drink fluids.
• Take over-the-counter medicine for a sore throat and fever. But don't give aspirin to children or teens younger than 19; use ibuprofen or acetaminophen instead.

A humidifier or steamy shower can also help ease a sore and scratchy throat.

Even when a coronavirus causes MERS or SARS in other countries, the kind of coronavirus infection common in the U.S. isn't a serious threat for an otherwise healthy adult. If you get sick, treat your symptoms and contact a doctor if they get worse or don't go away.

Coronavirus: How to track its spread across Asia, the US and Europe

      With the deadly coronavirus spreading across the globe, an online dashboard can help you keep up with the news. The Center for Systems Science and Engineering has built a tool pulling in data from the World Health Organisation, as well as the centres for disease control in the US, China, and Europe. It shows all coronavirus confirmed suspected and recovered patients, and deaths. Coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has so far killed 41 people and infected almost 1,000. Cases have been confirmed in the US and Europe, with the illness exhibiting pneumonia-like symptoms. It was first reported to the World Health Organization on Dec. 31, with Chinese scientists linking the disease to a family of viruses known as coronaviruses that include the deadly SARS and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). 

Second US case and first European cases confirmed: Everything we know.

Coronavirus cases spike to over 7,700, death toll rises: Everything we know 

The death toll from the deadly new virus continues to rise as the first cases are reported in the United Arab Emirates, Tibet, and Finland. 

A never-before-seen virus first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan has claimed 170 lives and infected almost 7,700 Chinese citizens with a pneumonia-like illness, according to the country's National Health Commission. The virus, known as 2019-nCoV, was first reported to the World Health Organization on Dec. 31 and has been under investigation since. Chinese scientists have linked the disease to a family of viruses known as coronaviruses, which include the deadly SARS and the Middle East respiratory syndrome.

On Jan. 23, a special WHO committee decided it was still too early to declare a public health emergency on a global level. However, after the human-to-human transmission was confirmed outside China, WHO has decided to hold another emergency meeting Thursday.

Authorities around the world are taking steps to guard against the spread of 2019-nCoV. Travel limitations to and from mainland China have been imposed by Hong Kong, the US announced increasing screening measures at 20 different ports of entry and further spread has been detected in Germany and Japan. On Wednesday, new cases appeared in the United Arab Emirates, Finland, Tibet, Australia, and Singapore.

As of 11.30 a.m. Pacific time Monday, the dashboard showed 81 deaths, 2,886 confirmed cases in mainland China; eight each in Hong Kong and Thailand; six in Macau; five each in Australia, Taiwan, and the US; four each in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea; three in France; two in Vietnam; and one in Cambodia, Canada, and Nepal.

This amounted to 40 more deaths than on Friday night Pacific time, and almost 2,000 more cases. Since the start of the weekend, the virus has spread to five additional countries.

Geographic distribution

       Main articles: Timeline of the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak and 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak by country and territory. The virus was first detected in Wuhan city, Central China, in December 2019. It is believed to have originated from wild animals, passing to humans due to the wildlife trade and wet markets. The virus spread to other Chinese provinces in early and mid-January 2020, helped by the Chinese new year migration. Cases started to be detected in other countries, carried by international travellers typically too major trade partners: Thailand (13 January); Japan (15 January); South Korea (20 January); Taiwan and the United States (21 January); Hong Kong and Macau (22 January); Singapore (23 January); France, Nepal, and Vietnam (24 January); Malaysia and Australia (25 January); Canada (26 January); Cambodia (27 January); Finland, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka (29 January); India and Philippines (30 January). As of 29 January, more than 7,900 cases have been formally detected worldwide, most in China proper.170 deaths have been attributed to the virus, all in China proper. Estimative models suggest the real figure to be around 25,000~35,000 cases. Local human-to-human contamination has been confirmed in Vietnam, Japan, and Germany, but no active centre of propagation have been confirmed outside China so far. Since around 23 January, an important effort, within China and abroad, is being led by WHO and local governments to alert the population and set up measures preventing new propagation of the virus.

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Further information: 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak by country and territory