Question 1: What is a Coronavirus?
Answer: Coronaviruses are a family of viruses. Some cause illness in people, and others, such as canine and feline coronaviruses, only infect animals.
Question 2: How does COVID-19 spread?
Answer: People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
Question 3: How Can I avoid catching COVID-19?
Answer: You can reduce your chances of being infected or spreading COVID-19 by taking some very simple precautions:
- Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water to kill any viruses that may be on your hands.
- Maintain a distance between yourself and others.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and can make you sick.
- Make sure you, and the people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then dispose of the used tissue immediately. By following good respiratory hygiene, you protect the people around you from all types of illness – including colds, the flu or COVID-19.
- Stay home if you feel unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention. Follow the directions of your local health authority which will have the most up to date information on the situation in your area.
- Do not travel unless it is absolutely necessary.
Question 4: Can I catch COVD-19 from a person who shows no symptoms?
Answer: The main way the disease spreads is through respiratory droplets expelled by someone who is coughing. The WHO believes the risk of catching COVID-19 from someone with no symptoms at all is low. However, many people with COVID-19 experience only mild symptoms. This is particularly true at the early stages of the disease. It is therefore possible to catch COVID-19 from someone who has, for example, just a mild cough and does not feel ill.
Question 5: I recently spent time with someone who has - or might have had - COVID-19, what should I do?
Answer: Follow the same guidance outlined above. In addition:
- Self-isolate by staying at home. If it is essential for you to have someone bring you supplies or to go out, e.g. to buy food, then wear a mask to avoid infecting other people. Avoiding contact with others and visits to medical facilities will allow these facilities to operate more effectively and help protect you and others from possible COVID-19 and other viruses.
- If you develop fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical advice promptly as this may be due to a respiratory infection or other serious condition.
Question 6: Why do we call this virus COVID-19?
The name for the current virus is “coronavirus disease 2019”, abbreviated as COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease. The ‘19’ is the year when the virus was first diagnosed.