7 Quick Facts You Need To Know About the Coronavirus

We’ve been getting a lot of questions about the coronavirus lately. I thought we should take some time to go over the basics of this respiratory illness, based in China.

1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is closely monitoring the current outbreak caused by a novel (new) coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
2. Coronaviruses are a highly contagious type of respiratory virus that will sometimes cause outbreaks in regional areas (if you remember SARS, think along those terms).
3. Human coronaviruses are common throughout the world. The CDC states there are seven different coronaviruses that scientists know of, that can make infect people and make them sick.
4. A current strain of the coronavirus caused hundreds of cases in China. Symptoms typically are runny nose, cough, sore throat and fever.
5. Because the virus replicates and causes high levels of infection in the lungs, it can spread rapidly to a large number of people.
6. Because it’s so new, there’s no specific treatment for coronavirus, but exposed individuals should be monitored for upper respiratory symptoms and worsening breathing problems.
7. For now, most of us in the U.S. are at low risk for coronavirus, but care should be exercised for anyone traveling to or from the impacted areas of China.

We will continue to monitor the CDC and other health organizations. If there’s something new to report, we will be sure to let you know.

*Image Credit: NIAID