What are coronaviruses
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. Some coronaviruses cause illness in humans and others cause illness in animals, such as bats, camels, and civets. Human coronaviruses generally cause mild illness, such as the common cold.
Rarely, animal coronaviruses can evolve to infect and spread among humans, causing severe diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which emerged in 2002, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) which emerged in 2012.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new strain of coronavirus that is causing disease in humans and spreading from person-to-person. The name of the disease is COVID-19.
What we know about COVID-19
The current COVID-19 situation is changing rapidly. We are still learning about how this new virus spreads and the disease it causes. We know:
- the virus causes respiratory disease that can spread from person to person
- most people experience mild flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath
- some people experience severe illness and, sadly, a small proportion die
- older people and people with underlying medical conditions seem to be more at risk of severe illness
- there is no treatment for COVID-19, but medical care can treat most of the symptoms – antibiotics do not work on viruses
- a vaccine is currently not available.
How it spreads
The virus most likely spreads through:
- close contact with an infectious person
- contact with droplets from an infected person’s uncovered cough or sneeze (if you are within 1.5 metres or two large steps of an infected person)
- touching objects or surfaces (like doorknobs, sink taps and tables) that have cough or sneeze droplets from an infected person, and then touching your mouth, nose or eyes.
What are the symptoms
Symptoms range from mild illness to pneumonia. Some people recover easily, others may get very sick, very quickly. Symptoms include fever or acute respiratory illness (eg cough, sore throat or shortness of breath). People with severe illness may have difficulty breathing, which is a sign of pneumonia and requires immediate medical attention.
It can take up to 14 days for symptoms to show after a person has been infected.
Who is most at risk
At the moment it seems the elderly, people with weakened immune systems, and people with serious underlying health conditions, like diabetes, lung disease, heart disease, cancer or kidney failure, may be at higher risk of severe illness.