As Delhi confirms first Coronavirus infection, here's what you should do to stay safe

To remain committed to the cause of medicine, it is also important to tackle misinformation being spread in the wake of a panic.

As the national capital, Delhi, confirms its first case of Novel Coronavirus (n-CoV) infection on March 2, 2020 (Monday), the panic around the epidemic has reached its zenith worldwide. The death toll stands at more than 3,000, including 2,912 in China, and at least 89,000 global cases have been confirmed. With cases of infection exceeding 4,000 in South Korea, this is already being called the largest outbreak outside of China, from where the virus is believed to have spread - more specifically, from a seafood market in central Wuhan city.

The virus has proved itself to be extremely resilient, even managing to travel overseas to 65 countries, and as far as the United States. In the wake of this, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the risk of the global spread of the virus is ‘very high’.


World Health Organization Western Pacific
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@WHOWPRO
The total number of #COVID19 cases reported from mainland China 🇨🇳 to date is 80,026

The figure includes 7,110 severe cases and 2,912 people who have died.
 #coronavirus

The concerns are aggravated especially considering the fact that scores of people across the world have died and several tens of thousands infected, exacerbating the risk to many more degrees as the virus can now potentially travel anywhere in the world, being transmitted by people from all walks of life across various regions.


Amid these concerns, the medical community of the entire world remains on high alert, monitoring subjects and consulting their medicinal know-how to come up with a cure as soon as possible.

To remain committed to the cause of medicine, it is also important to tackle misinformation being spread in the wake of a panic. To help get you everything you need, we are modifying an earlier copy from when the disease was in its infancy. Here is everything you need to know about this virus.

What is coronavirus?
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), coronaviruses are a family of viruses that affect mammals and birds, causing a variety of diseases that range from diarrhea in cows and pigs, upper respiratory diseases in chickens, to a host of respiratory infections in humans.


These infections, in turn, can range from mild - such as the common cold - to more severe and potentially lethal, such as those caused earlier by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). What this Novel Coronavirus (n-CoV) will cause remains to be seen, but the symptoms are listed later in the article.

The name "coronavirus" is derived from the Latin corona and the Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, "garland, wreath"), meaning crown or halo. This is because, under an electron microscope, the virus appears as if a royal crown or a solar corona.

How deadly/lethal is it?
To answer this would prove tricky. Some experts had earlier said that the Novel Coronavirus (n-CoV) might not prove as deadly as some previous manifestations of the coronavirus, such as the SARS-CoV or the MERS-CoV, but with the death toll nearing 3,000, the Novel Coronavirus is proving itself to be quite deadly.


For context, the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) had killed nearly 800 people worldwide during a 2002-03 outbreak, also originating from China. The MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) did not spread as much (keeping itself largely limited to the Middle-East) but proved far more deadly, killing one-third of those infected.

Now, the Novel Coronavirus could have ranged anywhere between mildly infectious to as deadly as its predecessors, now evolving into a full-fledged epidemic.

Can it be transmitted?
Yes, the coronavirus can be transmitted. Human-to-human transmission of the n-CoV has been confirmed. Besides, its two earlier manifestations - the SARS and the MERS - were believed to have been transmitted by animals. SARS, for instance, was believed to have been transmitted from civet cats to humans while MERS travelled to humans from a type of camel.

What are the symptoms?
People with the Novel Coronavirus infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of -- fever, cough, shortness of breath.

In more severe cases, it can lead to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the symptoms may appear in as few as two days or even as long as 14 days after exposure.

Where have the cases been reported?
As of March 2, the coronavirus has infected nearly 89,000 people globally and caused more than 3,000 deaths, including 2,912 in China. It is being said that the virus first spread from a seafood market in the city of Wuhan, in China's Hubei province.

Apart from China, the virus has spread to more than 70 countries.

All the cases involve people who had either come from countries that had been infected or been there recently.

How to protect yourself?
Very little is known about the n-CoV as of now, but here is a general guideline that you can follow to keep yourself safe:

* Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds* Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands* Avoid close contact with people who are sick

Is there any treatment?
Though there are no specific treatments for illnesses caused by the coronavirus, most people will recover on their own. However, those infected can take certain steps to relieve your symptoms --take pain and fever medications, use a room humidifier or take a hot shower to help ease a sore throat and cough, drink plenty of liquids, stay home and rest.