What is a coronavirus? What makes it so dangerous? How can you protect your family? What to do if you test positive?

A coronavirus is part of a family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases, for example, pneumonia. Seven of them are known to infect humans. In the past few years, three have jumped from animals to humans. Therefore, they are zoonotic – it means they can be transmitted between humans and animals, for example, bird flu &, swine flu. MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus ) which caused a flu outbreak in the Middle East was transmitted from dromedary camels to humans and was first identified in 2012.

COVID-19 is caused by a new strain of the coronavirus that appeared in December 2019 and was first identified in China patients. Scientists are unsure where it came from.

 

COvid-19 Tracker: South Africa

South Africa

Confirmed

2,461,758

+0 (24h)

Deaths

72,437

+0 (24h)

Recovered

2,238,388

90.93%

Active

150,933

6.13%

COvid-19 Tracker: Worldwide

Country	Cases	24h	Deaths	24h	%	Recovered	%	Active
USA	35,895,980	0	629,862	0	1.8%	29,717,537	82.8%	5,548,581
India	31,725,399	0	425,228	0	1.3%	30,888,702	97.4%	411,469
Brazil	19,953,501	0	557,359	0	2.8%	18,687,203	93.7%	708,939
Russia	6,312,185	0	160,137	0	2.5%	5,640,783	89.4%	511,265
France	6,151,803	0	111,936	0	1.8%	5,708,913	92.8%	330,954
UK	5,902,354	0	129,743	0	2.2%	4,536,152	76.9%	1,236,459
Turkey	5,770,833	0	51,519	0	0.9%	5,465,846	94.7%	253,468
Argentina	4,947,030	0	106,045	0	2.1%	4,594,873	92.9%	246,112
Colombia	4,801,050	0	121,216	0	2.5%	4,598,176	95.8%	81,658
Spain	4,502,983	0	81,643	0	1.8%	3,739,662	83%	681,678
Italy	4,358,533	0	128,088	0	2.9%	4,137,428	94.9%	93,017
Iran	3,940,708	0	91,407	0	2.3%	3,404,533	86.4%	444,768
Germany	3,779,778	0	92,183	0	2.4%	3,656,300	96.7%	31,295
Indonesia	3,462,800	0	97,291	0	2.8%	2,842,345	82.1%	523,164
Poland	2,883,120	0	75,261	0	2.6%	2,653,900	92%	153,959
Mexico	2,861,498	6,506	241,279	245	8.4%	2,241,868	78.3%	378,351
South Africa	2,461,758	0	72,437	0	2.9%	2,238,388	90.9%	150,933
Ukraine	2,253,534	0	52,955	0	2.3%	2,187,170	97.1%	13,409
Peru	2,113,201	0	196,438	0	9.3%	-	0%	1,916,763
Netherlands	1,869,909	0	17,829	0	1%	1,670,062	89.3%	182,018
Czechia	1,673,769	0	30,374	0	1.8%	1,640,812	98%	2,583
Iraq	1,648,727	0	18,802	0	1.1%	1,480,827	89.8%	149,098
Chile	1,617,852	0	35,616	0	2.2%	1,573,007	97.2%	9,229
Philippines	1,605,762	0	28,093	0	1.7%	1,515,054	94.4%	62,615
Canada	1,431,605	0	26,600	0	1.9%	1,398,168	97.7%	6,837
Bangladesh	1,280,317	0	21,162	0	1.7%	1,108,748	86.6%	150,407
Malaysia	1,146,186	0	9,403	0	0.8%	937,732	81.8%	199,051
Belgium	1,124,715	0	25,241	0	2.2%	1,059,896	94.2%	39,578
Sweden	1,100,040	0	14,617	0	1.3%	1,076,641	97.9%	8,782
Romania	1,083,478	0	34,291	0	3.2%	1,047,778	96.7%	1,409
Pakistan	1,039,695	0	23,462	0	2.3%	943,020	90.7%	73,213
Portugal	972,127	0	17,378	0	1.8%	904,962	93.1%	49,787
Japan	935,886	0	15,197	0	1.6%	842,780	90.1%	77,909
Israel	879,650	0	6,487	0	0.7%	852,115	96.9%	21,048
Hungary	809,646	0	30,027	0	3.7%	749,185	92.5%	30,434
Jordan	772,743	0	10,059	0	1.3%	751,969	97.3%	10,715
Serbia	722,607	0	7,122	0	1%	710,819	98.4%	4,666
Switzerland	719,684	0	10,907	0	1.5%	692,431	96.2%	16,346
Nepal	699,649	0	9,898	0	1.4%	658,122	94.1%	31,629
UAE	683,914	0	1,956	0	0.3%	661,156	96.7%	20,802
Austria	659,872	0	10,739	0	1.6%	643,694	97.5%	5,439
Thailand	652,185	18,901	5,315	147	0.8%	437,831	67.1%	209,039
Morocco	633,923	0	9,885	0	1.6%	569,452	89.8%	54,586
Tunisia	595,532	0	20,067	0	3.4%	516,831	86.8%	58,634
Kazakhstan	587,952	0	5,866	0	1%	482,958	82.1%	99,128
Lebanon	563,124	0	7,912	0	1.4%	537,451	95.4%	17,761
Saudi Arabia	527,877	0	8,259	0	1.6%	508,994	96.4%	10,624
Greece	497,061	0	12,958	0	2.6%	453,491	91.2%	30,612
Ecuador	487,598	0	31,634	0	6.5%	443,880	91%	12,084
Bolivia	474,538	639	17,859	20	3.8%	409,768	86.4%	46,911
Paraguay	453,031	0	15,086	0	3.3%	422,050	93.2%	15,895
Belarus	447,754	0	3,472	0	0.8%	441,961	98.7%	2,321
Panama	436,812	0	6,842	0	1.6%	417,710	95.6%	12,260
Bulgaria	425,541	0	18,222	0	4.3%	398,617	93.7%	8,702
Georgia	423,843	0	5,876	0	1.4%	386,998	91.3%	30,969
Costa Rica	406,814	0	5,030	0	1.2%	329,639	81%	72,145
Cuba	403,622	0	2,913	0	0.7%	356,698	88.4%	44,011
Kuwait	399,343	0	2,339	0	0.6%	386,690	96.8%	10,314
Slovakia	392,710	0	12,540	0	3.2%	379,564	96.7%	606
Uruguay	381,715	0	5,972	0	1.6%	373,839	97.9%	1,904
Guatemala	370,258	0	10,448	0	2.8%	326,004	88%	33,806
Croatia	363,787	0	8,266	0	2.3%	354,393	97.4%	1,128
Azerbaijan	344,951	0	5,030	0	1.5%	333,267	96.6%	6,654
Dominican Republic	342,660	0	3,963	0	1.2%	324,227	94.6%	14,470
Denmark	318,485	0	2,550	0	0.8%	304,669	95.7%	11,266
Palestine	317,083	0	3,609	0	1.1%	312,149	98.4%	1,325
Sri Lanka	313,769	0	4,566	0	1.5%	280,868	89.5%	28,335
Venezuela	306,673	0	3,607	0	1.2%	291,556	95.1%	11,510
Myanmar	306,354	0	10,061	0	3.3%	217,142	70.9%	79,151
Ireland	303,426	0	5,035	0	1.7%	268,709	88.6%	29,682
Oman	297,122	0	3,868	0	1.3%	280,423	94.4%	12,831
Honduras	297,111	0	7,834	0	2.6%	100,697	33.9%	188,580
Egypt	284,362	0	16,535	0	5.8%	231,259	81.3%	36,568
Lithuania	283,246	0	4,416	0	1.6%	269,361	95.1%	9,469
Ethiopia	280,833	0	4,391	0	1.6%	263,694	93.9%	12,748
Bahrain	269,401	0	1,384	0	0.5%	267,026	99.1%	991
Moldova	259,667	0	6,257	0	2.4%	252,166	97.1%	1,244
Slovenia	259,304	0	4,429	0	1.7%	253,772	97.9%	1,103
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	256,328	0	3,579	0	1.4%	193,144	75.4%	59,605
Armenia	230,476	0	4,621	0	2%	220,133	95.5%	5,722
Qatar	226,540	0	601	0	0.3%	223,995	98.9%	1,944
Bosnia	205,785	0	9,689	0	4.7%	189,677	92.2%	6,419
Kenya	204,271	0	3,970	0	1.9%	189,692	92.9%	10,609
S. Korea	202,203	1,201	2,104	5	1%	177,909	88%	22,190
Zambia	196,490	0	3,412	0	1.7%	188,950	96.2%	4,128
Nigeria	174,759	0	2,160	0	1.2%	165,037	94.4%	7,562
Algeria	173,922	0	4,329	0	2.5%	116,770	67.1%	52,823
Mongolia	166,210	0	823	0	0.5%	156,405	94.1%	8,982
Kyrgyzstan	164,743	0	2,344	0	1.4%	147,377	89.5%	15,022
Vietnam	161,761	0	1,695	0	1%	46,965	29%	113,101
Macedonia	156,506	0	5,494	0	3.5%	150,399	96.1%	613
Afghanistan	148,572	0	6,804	0	4.6%	100,036	67.3%	41,732
Latvia	138,925	0	2,556	0	1.8%	135,640	97.6%	729
Norway	138,265	0	799	0	0.6%	88,952	64.3%	48,514
Estonia	133,771	0	1,272	0	1%	128,917	96.4%	3,582
Albania	133,146	0	2,457	0	1.8%	130,256	97.8%	433
Uzbekistan	131,079	0	886	0	0.7%	124,728	95.2%	5,465
Mozambique	124,962	0	1,479	0	1.2%	95,815	76.7%	27,668
Namibia	119,442	0	3,064	0	2.6%	96,219	80.6%	20,159
Botswana	115,220	0	1,653	0	1.4%	96,964	84.2%	16,603
Zimbabwe	110,855	0	3,635	0	3.3%	79,420	71.6%	27,800
Finland	107,666	0	982	0	0.9%	46,000	42.7%	60,684
Ghana	104,994	0	837	0	0.8%	98,229	93.6%	5,928
Cyprus	102,716	0	426	0	0.4%	80,178	78.1%	22,112
Montenegro	102,184	0	1,631	0	1.6%	99,040	96.9%	1,513
Uganda	94,425	0	2,710	0	2.9%	84,959	90%	6,756
China	93,193	90	4,636	0	5%	87,400	93.8%	1,157
El Salvador	87,498	0	2,651	0	3%	76,670	87.6%	8,177
Cameroon	82,064	0	1,334	0	1.6%	80,433	98%	297
Cambodia	78,474	0	1,442	0	1.8%	71,517	91.1%	5,515
Maldives	77,633	0	221	0	0.3%	74,928	96.5%	2,484
Luxembourg	73,990	0	822	0	1.1%	72,211	97.6%	957
Rwanda	72,066	0	831	0	1.2%	44,875	62.3%	26,360
Singapore	65,213	0	38	0	0.1%	63,033	96.7%	2,142
Senegal	63,520	0	1,385	0	2.2%	47,992	75.6%	14,143
Jamaica	53,428	0	1,200	0	2.2%	47,040	88%	5,188
Malawi	52,987	0	1,685	0	3.2%	38,427	72.5%	12,875
Côte d'Ivoire	50,341	0	332	0	0.7%	49,461	98.3%	548
DRC	50,193	0	1,038	0	2.1%	29,994	59.8%	19,161
Angola	42,970	0	1,018	0	2.4%	38,360	89.3%	3,592
Madagascar	42,672	0	943	0	2.2%	41,164	96.5%	565
Trinidad and Tobago	39,039	0	1,092	0	2.8%	32,129	82.3%	5,818
Réunion	37,231	0	275	0	0.7%	33,894	91%	3,062
Sudan	37,138	0	2,776	0	7.5%	30,867	83.1%	3,495
Australia	34,836	223	925	0	2.7%	29,926	85.9%	3,985
Malta	34,439	0	423	0	1.2%	32,011	92.9%	2,005
Cabo Verde	33,830	0	298	0	0.9%	33,068	97.7%	464
Fiji	31,513	0	254	0	0.8%	8,531	27.1%	22,728
French Guiana	30,329	0	189	0	0.6%	9,995	33%	20,145
Swaziland	26,628	0	806	0	3%	21,313	80%	4,509
Mauritania	26,202	0	571	0	2.2%	22,572	86.1%	3,059
Syrian Arab Republic	26,005	0	1,917	0	7.4%	22,002	84.6%	2,086
Guinea	25,914	0	232	0	0.9%	24,327	93.9%	1,355
Suriname	25,439	0	652	0	2.6%	21,829	85.8%	2,958
Gabon	25,405	0	164	0	0.6%	25,191	99.2%	50
Guyana	22,523	0	541	0	2.4%	21,183	94.1%	799
French Polynesia	20,480	0	153	0	0.7%	19,285	94.2%	1,042
Haiti	20,307	0	560	0	2.8%	14,724	72.5%	5,023
Guadeloupe	19,503	0	242	0	1.2%	2,250	11.5%	17,011
Mayotte	19,494	0	174	0	0.9%	2,964	15.2%	16,356
Martinique	19,149	0	111	0	0.6%	104	0.5%	18,934
Seychelles	18,384	0	94	0	0.5%	17,874	97.2%	416
Papua New Guinea	17,774	0	192	0	1.1%	17,384	97.8%	198
Togo	15,924	0	154	0	1%	14,524	91.2%	1,246
Taiwan	15,702	0	789	0	5%	14,138	90%	775
Somalia	15,497	0	819	0	5.3%	7,593	49%	7,085
Tajikistan	15,219	0	121	0	0.8%	14,705	96.6%	393
Bahamas	14,840	0	287	0	1.9%	12,606	84.9%	1,947
Andorra	14,747	0	128	0	0.9%	14,296	96.9%	323
Mali	14,589	0	534	0	3.7%	13,958	95.7%	97
Belize	14,163	0	337	0	2.4%	13,420	94.8%	406
Curaçao	13,692	0	127	0	0.9%	12,961	94.7%	604
Lesotho	13,603	0	377	0	2.8%	6,664	49%	6,562
Burkina Faso	13,591	0	169	0	1.2%	13,385	98.5%	37
Congo	13,216	0	178	0	1.3%	12,421	94%	617
Hong Kong	11,991	0	212	0	1.8%	11,715	97.7%	64
Aruba	11,807	0	111	0	0.9%	11,207	94.9%	489
Djibouti	11,653	0	156	0	1.3%	11,491	98.6%	6
South Sudan	11,063	0	119	0	1.1%	10,514	95%	430
Timor-Leste	10,982	0	26	0	0.2%	9,941	90.5%	1,015
Nicaragua	9,470	0	195	0	2.1%	4,225	44.6%	5,050
Channel Islands	9,395	0	88	0	0.9%	8,067	85.9%	1,240
Equatorial Guinea	8,911	0	123	0	1.4%	8,696	97.6%	92
Benin	8,394	0	108	0	1.3%	8,136	96.9%	150
Iceland	8,122	0	30	0	0.4%	6,848	84.3%	1,244
Gambia	7,709	0	212	0	2.8%	6,600	85.6%	897
Burundi	7,505	0	38	0	0.5%	773	10.3%	6,694
Central African Republic	7,151	0	98	0	1.4%	6,859	95.9%	194
Yemen	7,081	0	1,378	0	19.5%	4,212	59.5%	1,491
Lao People's Democratic Republic	6,765	0	7	0	0.1%	3,180	47%	3,578
Eritrea	6,559	0	35	0	0.5%	6,456	98.4%	68
Sierra Leone	6,288	0	120	0	1.9%	4,277	68%	1,891
Niger	5,637	0	195	0	3.5%	5,345	94.8%	97
Saint Lucia	5,632	0	89	0	1.6%	5,379	95.5%	164
Liberia	5,459	0	148	0	2.7%	2,715	49.7%	2,596
San Marino	5,147	0	90	0	1.7%	5,009	97.3%	48
Gibraltar	5,000	0	94	0	1.9%	4,635	92.7%	271
Chad	4,973	0	174	0	3.5%	4,793	96.4%	6
Isle of Man	4,912	0	30	0	0.6%	3,750	76.3%	1,132
Guinea-Bissau	4,498	0	76	0	1.7%	3,968	88.2%	454
Barbados	4,417	0	48	0	1.1%	4,251	96.2%	118
Mauritius	4,393	0	20	0	0.5%	1,854	42.2%	2,519
Comoros	4,028	0	147	0	3.6%	3,869	96.1%	12
Liechtenstein	3,087	0	59	0	1.9%	3,010	97.5%	18
Monaco	2,897	0	33	0	1.1%	2,729	94.2%	135
New Zealand	2,877	0	26	0	0.9%	2,814	97.8%	37
Sint Maarten	2,770	0	34	0	1.2%	2,655	95.8%	81
Saint Martin	2,579	0	38	0	1.5%	1,399	54.2%	1,142
Bermuda	2,568	0	33	0	1.3%	2,499	97.3%	36
Bhutan	2,524	0	2	0	0.1%	2,399	95%	123
British Virgin Islands	2,500	0	31	0	1.2%	1,914	76.6%	555
Turks and Caicos Islands	2,486	0	18	0	0.7%	2,433	97.9%	35
Sao Tome and Principe	2,454	0	37	0	1.5%	2,358	96.1%	59
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	2,297	0	12	0	0.5%	2,230	97.1%	55
Caribbean Netherlands	1,710	0	17	0	1%	1,673	97.8%	20
Antigua and Barbuda	1,303	0	43	0	3.3%	1,235	94.8%	25
St. Barth	1,195	0	1	0	0.1%	462	38.7%	732
Tanzania	1,017	0	21	0	2.1%	183	18%	813
Faroe Islands	985	0	2	0	0.2%	955	97%	28
Diamond Princess	712	0	13	0	1.8%	699	98.2%	0
Cayman Islands	644	0	2	0	0.3%	635	98.6%	7
Saint Kitts and Nevis	594	0	3	0	0.5%	546	91.9%	45
Wallis and Futuna	445	0	7	0	1.6%	438	98.4%	0
Brunei	338	0	3	0	0.9%	280	82.8%	55
Dominica	218	0	0	0	0%	209	95.9%	9
Grenada	164	0	1	0	0.6%	161	98.2%	2
New Caledonia	134	0	0	0	0%	58	43.3%	76
Greenland	122	0	0	0	0%	78	63.9%	44
Anguilla	113	0	0	0	0%	111	98.2%	2
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	63	0	0	0	0%	63	100%	0
Macao	59	0	0	0	0%	54	91.5%	5
Saint Pierre Miquelon	28	0	0	0	0%	26	92.9%	2
Holy See (Vatican City State)	27	0	0	0	0%	27	100%	0
Montserrat	21	0	1	0	4.8%	19	90.5%	1
Solomon Islands	20	0	0	0	0%	20	100%	0
Western Sahara	10	0	1	0	10%	8	80%	1
MS Zaandam	9	0	2	0	22.2%	7	77.8%	0
Marshall Islands	4	0	0	0	0%	4	100%	0
Vanuatu	4	0	1	0	25%	3	75%	0
Samoa	3	0	0	0	0%	3	100%	0
Saint Helena	2	0	0	0	0%	2	100%	0
Micronesia	1	0	0	0	0%	1	100%	0

How does it spread?

In short:

• Coughing
• Sneezing
• Touching public surfaces (counters, doors, elevator buttons, handles, communal pens, public transport, etc.)
• Person-to-person contact (shaking hands, close contact, talking, etc.)

Image: Pixabay

It’s likely to be transmitted in droplets from coughing or sneezes from infected persons. An infected person can also share the virus by talking and breathing since it also produces tiny droplets in the air. Some say microscopic droplets from a sneeze can hang in the air for 3 hours infecting people. Most respiratory droplets fall to the ground within a few feet of the infected person.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health, Princeton, and the University of California, Los Angeles exposed various materials to the lab’s virus. They found that it remained virulent on surfaces for a lengthy period: from up to 24 hours on cardboard to up to two or three days on plastic and stainless steel.

A study in Germany has found that people can transmit the virus when they don’t even know they have it yet or have only a few symptoms.

A small study out of China suggests that the new coronavirus can persist in the body for at least two weeks after symptoms of the disease clear up.

What makes the coronavirus so dangerous?

How does it precisely affect the lungs? What kind of damage does it cause?

LUNGS – it is here where the disease begins and ends for most people. Coronaviruses cause respiratory infections.

Stage one:

The coronavirus targets human lungs cells and invades them quickly when the virus enters the body through the mouth or nose (or even mucous membrane of the eyes).

There are 2 types of human lung cells – one cell type produces mucus to protect lung tissue, and the other are hair-like buttons called cilia, which removes pollen, viruses or objects from the lungs in a wave-like motion.

If the cilia aren’t working, the lungs’ routine cleaning can occur, and the person’s lungs fill up with debris and fluids. This causes difficulty with breathing and shortness of breath.

Stage two:

When your body senses an invader like the coronavirus, your immune system responds by sending an army of immune cells to the infected area. The immune cells work to clear the area and repair the lung tissue.

In normal lungs, your immune system’s reaction is highly regulated and confined to the affected area, killing only invaders. However, with corona, the immune system can go haywire and start killing anything in their way – healthy cells. The immune response can cause more bad than good because more debris and fluids are clogging up the lungs. The person presents with pneumonia in both lungs. Pneumonia is lung inflammation caused by a bacterial or viral infection, in which the air sacs fill with pus and may become solid.

Stage three:

More lung damage now causes respiratory failure. Some patients die, and some end up with permanent lung damage. Lesions are caused by the coronavirus that gives the lungs a honeycomb appearance.   Chest scans can reveal COVID-19’s distinctive pattern of pneumonia.

It causes the immune system to dump cytokines into the lungs without any regulation.  Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and associate research scientist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, describes it as attacking an invader with a missile launcher instead of just a gun.  It weakens blood vessels in the lungs and causes fluid to seep through to the air sacs. You basically drown because of the fluid in your lungs – normal respiration cannot take place with lungs full of fluids.

The immune response implications extend outside the lungs with elevated liver enzymes, a lower white blood cell and platelet count, and low blood pressure. The reaction spills over to the rest of your body because multiple organs now are affected by the cytokine response—combined with a diminished capacity to pump oxygen to the rest of the body—it can result in multi-organ failure and death.

Source:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/here-is-what-coronavirus-does-to-the-body/

What are the symptoms of coronavirus infection?

The following symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure:

Initially, a sore throat that lasts three to four days 

FEVER   –    COUGH    –    DIFFICULTY BREATHING    –    SHORTNESS OF BREATH

• Pneumonia in both lungs

 

Please note: THE NORMAL Flu vaccine will not protect you against corona

The flu vaccine helps you not get seasonal flu, which might weaken your lungs and put you at greater risk if you should contract a coronavirus.

Is there a vaccine available?

Vaccines are available since 2021. There are, however, too few to vaccinate everyone. South Africa has started a vaccination programme. It started with the vaccination of all healthcare workers. Currently, specific age groups are targeted and vaccinated, along with people in the education sector and police.  It might be another year before it will be available to all.

How can best protect my family and me against it?

• HONOR THE LOCKDOWN – ADHERE TO THE ALL THE RULES
• WASH YOUR HANDS/ WASH YOUR HANDS/ WASH YOUR HANDS/ WASH YOUR HANDS!

ONE: Hand cleaning is of utmost importance all day long: when you have done shopping; been to a bathroom; when you enter your home; when you prepare food; before you eat or drink; when you start or leave your workplace; when you use an ATM or credit card machine.

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser if you can’t get to a sink. You do not need fancy disinfectants to wash your hands – good old-fashioned soap and water do the trick.

NOTE: A hand sanitiser must contain at least 60 -70 % alcohol. If you run out of alcohol hand sanitisers, look for other products with high alcohol content, for example, mouth wash (94%), Stroh rum (60% to 80%).  METHYLATED SPIRITS also kills many germs and is a useful sanitiser for toilet seats and other fittings.

TWO: If you cough or sneeze, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue and throw it away afterwards. We don’t know how long the coronavirus survives on clothes or your hands – refrain from coughing in the elbow of your shirt or into your hands without a tissue.

THREE: Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth if your hands aren’t clean. It isn’t easy because we touch our faces 100’s of times per day. If it will help you not to touch your face, wear a mask. It can be a washable homemade mask made of cotton. It will not protect you against the coronavirus in the air – only N95 masks can do that. If you are already sick with coughing and sneezing – also wear a mask so that you limit the spread of your germs to other people.

FOUR: Avoid close contact with anyone who is sick. If you know someone is sick – keep your distance from them.

FIVE: Clean surfaces you often touch:  Your smartphone is like a third hand. Wipe it down. Door handles, taps, TV remotes, telephones,  laptops, kettles, fridge & cupboard door handles, steering wheel & gear stick,  and the door handle of your car. If there are many corona cases in your area – think of what could become infected and needs a wipe with an alcohol, JIK or Biocide solution daily. Wipe right: Use ammonia or alcohol-based products. Skip the baby wipes.

Ultraviolet light can be a potent disinfectant, and we get a lot of UVA light from the sun. Direct sunlight can help rapidly diminish the infectivity of viruses on surfaces.

SIX: Stay home from work, school and public areas if you’re sick. Period.

If you are still healthy:

• Avoid crowds anywhere.
• Don’t visit malls or shops during peak hours.
• If you have to go to the shops, send only one person only – now is not the time for family shopping excursions.
• Disinfect your hands when you enter and leave the store.
• Touch as few things as possible.
• If you stand in a queue to pay – make sure there is 1.5 -2 m between you and the next person. Respect the request for social distancing.

SEVEN: Stock up on home supplies, medicine and resources (at least a 30-day supply) should a mass quarantine be enforced. Limit your trips to shopping malls. 

EIGHT: Boost your immune system. It is a good idea to drink a Vitamin C (sustained-release) product every day of your life. Echinaforce® is a clinically proven, herbal product that helps prevent and treat colds, flu, and upper respiratory tract infections. It also helps prevent the complications of colds and flu.  Other products that enhance a strong immune system are colloidal silver, colostrum, probiotics.

Reduce or eliminate your intake of sugar. Sugar paralyze your immune system for hours after the information. A robust immune system can help you to have mild flu, instead of becoming critically ill.

If you have a pre-existing lung condition (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, lung cancer) or are on immuno-suppressants, now is a great time to talk to your doctor or specialist about what they would like you to do if you get sick.

NINE: If you begin to have a high fever, shortness of breath or any other more serious symptom, the best thing to do is to call 0800 029 999 in South Africa to let them know and inquire about next steps.

Coronavirus starts deep in the lungs, and the most common signs are fever and dry cough, followed by fatigue and shortness of breath.

If you have any of these symptoms, please make every effort to remain at home.

Don’t go to the office; don’t drive the kids to school; don’t go to the store; don’t ride public transportation. If children exhibit any illness, they too should remain home from school.

Advice for how to handle it if you actually test positive:

You basically want to prepare as though you know you’re going to get a nasty respiratory bug, like bronchitis or pneumonia. You have the foresight to know it might come your way!

You DO NOT NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL unless you are having trouble breathing or your fever is very high (over 39°C) and is not brought down by taking paracetamol. 90% of healthy adult cases thus far have been managed at home with essential rest/hydration/over-the-counter medications. For symptom management and a fever over 38°c, take Paracetamol, not Ibuprofen.

NOTE: Antibiotics work only on bacteria. They do not work against viruses. The coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, is a virus and, therefore, antibiotics should not be used as a means of prevention or treatment.

HELPLINE:

You are welcome to chat with an online counsellor for more advice: LIVE CHAT

NATIONAL HELPLINE SOUTH AFRICA:

0800 029 999

MORE HELP

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COVID:  What to expect when contracting COVID

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