COVID-19: Staying Up To Date

With new information emerging daily about COVID-19 (the Coronavirus), it’s difficult to keep up.

A few known and unlikely-to-change facts include:

• It’s a virus. This means it needs a host to survive and replicate. And it can live on surfaces for a limited period of time, though the amount of time is up for debate.

• It replicates quickly. For example, 2 cells become 4, then 8, then 16. Evidence suggests replication may occur faster.

• Handwashing is effective. Removing the virus from our skin through regular handwashing for 30 seconds (hum the Jeopardy song) will prevent transmission (passing the virus to others) and infection (becoming sick yourself).

• Keeping your hands away from your face is effective. It enters the body through the eyes, nose, and mouth. It is unknown whether there are other entry points, so we focus on what we know and can control.

• Most persons will recover. COVID-19 has about an 80% recovery rate as of the time of this writing. Persons who are not elderly, immunocompromised, having respiratory illnesses or otherwise have comorbidities seem to fare better and recover more quickly. However, we’ve also seen young, seemingly healthy individuals pass away, so we all need to be careful.

Since this post isn’t comprehensive and new information becomes available daily, visit the Center for Disease Control’s website for the most up to date information on COVID-19.