Need a Cheat Sheet to help prepare at ease? We have condensed the current research and news into a general guideline on what you need to know and prepare for the #coronavirus. We thank the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization for the guidelines.
Virology: Genomic sequencing and phylogenetic analysis shows that COVID-19 is a betacoronavirus in the same subgensus as the SARS virus, but in a different clade. It uses the same receptor for cell entry. Incubation period is within 14 days after exposure, but most cases so far show 4 to 5 days after exposure.
Symptoms: So far, it is a 2.3% fatality rate coming from critical cases, but only 81% of the overall reported cases are classified as mild meaning no or mild pneumonia, and 14% are reported severe including symptoms such as dyspnea and hypoxia.
Symptoms vary depending on age and many factors. In a Chinese report from several cohorts of hospitalized patients who were confirmed COVID-19, symptoms in children are mild and 2% of infections are in those who are 20 years old or less. Symptoms are usually fever, cough and/or sore throat. Respectively, older age is associated with increased mortality. In this case, the fatality rate is from 8 to 15% for those who are aged 70 or older.
In a study among 138 patients confirmed in Wuhan, the top symptoms in order from high to low are: Fever, fatigue, dry cough, anorexia, myalgias, dyspnea and sputum. If you suspect you are sick, here is the site from the CDC that will help.
Clinical suspicion for testing: You should focus on recognizing the signs as early as possible in order to prevent the spreading. Generally at this time, it seems like people who has had COVID-19 had the following prior to 14 days:
Updated case counts can be found on the World Health Organization https://www.who.int/.../novel-coronavirus-2.../situation-reports and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control websites
If you work in healthcare, use this site as a guideline: https://www.cdc.gov/.../.../hcp/guidance-risk-assesment-hcp.html
Use this site for updated guidelines on the CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/.../hcp/clinical-criteria.html
Home care: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavir.../.../hcp/guidance-home-care.html https://www.who.int/.../home-care-for-patients-with-suspected...
Environmental infection: It is unknown how long the strain can survive on surfaces, but other kinds of coronaviruses were tested and can possibly survive on stationary surfaces from 6 to 9 days without any cleaning procedure. Use EPA approved products as routine cleaning and disinfection procedures here: https://www.epa.gov/.../docume.../sars-cov-2-list_03-03-2020.pdf
Preventing exposure in community: Wash hands, cover mouth, avoid touching the face, stay away from crowds or any sick individuals, clean/disinfect surfaces that people normally touch.