Corona Virus : COVID 19 : All you need to know

Covid-19 infographic

• This is a new coronavirus that has been identified for the first time in the city of Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei Province in mainland China. 

· It was identified after people developed pneumonia without an evident cause and where current vaccines and treatment methods were not effective.

·  India reported its first case towards the end of January 2020.

·         Currently, the worst-effected country is the US, followed by Brazil and India

·         There is not much known about the new coronavirus, which has been designated 2019-nCoV.

·         It is considered a novel virus outbreak because the virus is novel (new – not seen earlier).

• Symptoms of the new virus include:

  

  
  

• Fever
• Coughing
• Muscle pain
• Fatigue 
• Breathing difficulties
• Can cause pneumonia (infection of one or both lungs)
• Can be fatal
• Hypoxemia caused due to intensifying lung injury leads to difficulty in breathing and the need for oxygen therapy.
• Another common complication observed is ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome).
• Other complications include acute kidney injury, septic shock and virus-induced cardiac injury.               
• The incubation period for the virus ranges from 2 to 14 days. 
• The incubation period is the time starting from exposure to the virus to developing symptoms.
• During the incubation period, the Wuhan virus is contagious.
• The virus is believed to have originated in a seafood market in Wuhan that was involved in the illegal sale of wildlife.
• Many early patients of the virus had some link to the market, suggesting an animal-to-human spread.
• A further rise in the number of patients (who have not had exposure to the market) suggests that person-to-person spread is happening. However, at present, it is not clear as to how this spreading occurs between people.

COVID 19 – Indian Context

• The first case of the Novel Coronavirus in India was confirmed in Kerala; the patient is a female student at Wuhan University, on 30th January 2020. She had travelled back to her home town.
• On 24th March, Prime Minister Modi announced a nationwide lockdown for 21 days in a bid to curb the rapid spread of the virus.
• Maharashtra is the worst-affected, followed by Tamil Nadu, Gujarat.

• The government has divided the districts of the country into three, to manage the situation:

• Hotspot districts,
• Non-Hotspot districts with reported cases, and
• Green zone districts.                                                           
• The government has announced a special financial package on 12 May, worth Rs. 20 Lakh Crores for helping the economy revive.

WHO declares the outbreak a global emergency

The virus has officially been named COVID-19 by the WHO.

The WHO declared the outbreak as a ‘pandemic’.

What is Coronavirus?

                

Coronaviruses

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in various species of animals, such as cattle, camels, bats, and cats. They cause diseases ranging from cold to SARS.

• In some cases, animal coronaviruses can infect humans, which can then spread from person to person.
• This happened in the case of the SARS and MERS coronaviruses. It is also suggested that this might be happening in the current China virus case.
• Coronaviruses cause respiratory infections in humans which are generally mild, but sometimes, can be fatal.
• Coronaviruses are physically large as far as viruses go (26 – 32 kilobases), having the surface of spike projections (which resembles a crown and hence the name ‘corona’).
• Like the influenza virus, the coronavirus spreads through both direct and indirect contact.

• Direct contact happens through a physical transfer of the microorganism through close contact with oral secretions.
• Indirect contact happens when a person infected with the virus sneezes or coughs, which spreads the virus droplets on surfaces.
• Person-to-person spread occurred with MERS and SARS mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, quite like how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread.          

Human Coronaviruses

There are seven strains of human coronaviruses. They are:

1. Human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E)
2. Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43)
3. SARS-CoV
4. Human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63, New Haven coronavirus)
5. Human coronavirus HKU1
6. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
7. Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) – Wuhan pneumonia or Wuhan coronavirus, COVID-19

Coronaviruses are known to cause a significant percentage of all common colds in human beings (adults and children). 

Given below is a comparison of three coronaviruses that hit the headlines:

Coronavirus name	COVID-19	SARS	MERS
Full form	Novel coronavirus	Severe acute respiratory syndrome	Middle East respiratory syndrome
Country of origin	China	China	Saudi Arabia
Primary host	Probably bats (unconfirmed)	Bats	Bats
Intermediate host	Not identified	Masked Palm Civets	Camels

Zoonotic Diseases

Diseases that pass from animals to humans are called zoonotic diseases.Zoonotic diseases are also called zoonoses. They 

How Zoonotic Diseases spread?

• Direct contact: with saliva, urine, and other bodily fluids, by touching or petting animals.
• Indirect contact: coming into contact with areas where animals live, or with objects and surfaces that have been contaminated with germs.
• Vector-borne: being bitten by insects like mosquitoes, fleas or ticks.
• Foodborne: eating contaminated food.

Measures are taken to combat the Coronavirus

There are no specific treatments for human coronaviruses. 2019-nCoV does not have a vaccine or any effective treatment. One method of fighting the spread of the disease is to take preventive measures. 

·         The WHO recommends people to do regular hand washing, cover mouth and nose while coughing or sneezing, and avoid close contact with anyone suspected of being infected or showing respiratory illness symptoms.

·         People in public places are asked to wear face masks.

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   For Updates please visit:  WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard