Everyday, more people who test positive for coronavirus have been confirmed, prompting fears of the virus. Every family in the United States are now very conscious about their health and are taking precautionary measures in battling the virus. In fact, it is rapidly spreading across the U.S. and the numbers are increasing every day. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as of last week, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has reached 43. According to CNN's report, 17 of these patients are already in the hospital and there are already 6 confirmed deaths because of the said virus.
Coronavirus is not just a mere battle of cold and flu-- it's a virus and it is still unstoppable even to this day. It is transmitted through person to person contact, and that is why the virus has spread in the U.S. in the most rapid way. With this, it should be expected that the virus will keep on spreading and the number will continue to increase in the coming weeks.
With this, parents, children, and families are encouraged to be vigilant about certain cold and flu symptoms. Although coronavirus is a virus and is at the top-tier of the cold family tree, it still shows the ordinary flu symptom that could be confusing to the public.
Here are some things that families need to know about coronavirus and how to prevent it from coming to your household.
COVID-19 is the largest family of viruses that are most common to animals such as camels, cattle, bats, and cats. However, it was just rare cases before that human beings get this virus, until today. The virus was first detected in Wuhan, China in late 2019.
Coronavirus is transmitted through human contact. This is between the person who has the virus and the person who is not yet infected. People should not be in close contact with each other and should be within 6 feet. People who are in contact with people who have the virus can be infected through respiratory droplets that is produced when an infected person lets out a cough or sneeze.
Coronavirus has three main symptoms that can be associated with simple flu symptoms. These are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. In addition, an infected COVID-19 person will also feel headaches, muscle and body aches, fatigue, cough, and sore throat.
According to the CDC, there is not much news about children being more vulnerable to the virus, but this should not stop parents to be cautious. However, cases that were confirmed where children were the victims in China experienced and showed mild, cold-like symptoms, such as fever, cough, and a runny nose.
People who are most at risk for COVID-19 are those very young children-- despite having less confirmed cases-- and adults. Since adults go to public cases more often than children do, adults are the most at risk. People who live in communities that are crowded and the houses are close to each other are also one of the most at-risk people. Then comes health workers, who are more exposed to COVID-19 patients, and lastly, those people who travel a lot will most likely get infected as well.
Proper hygiene and hand-washing is the best way that one individual can do to prevent the virus in coming to their system. It is the most effective tool that people can do. Using hand-rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizers, and soaps are very necessary these days because you will never know when the virus will attack you.
