Coronavirus transmission: how to protect yourself from coronavirus?


The new Covid-19 coronavirus is highly contagious. This explains the speed in which it has spread around the world. However, there are measures to protect against it and thus control the spread of the pandamic.

What is coronavirus?

 Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can be pathogenic for humans and animals. In humans, several coronaviruses can cause more or less serious respiratory infections. It ranges from the common cold to more serious conditions like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

On January 9, 2020, a new coronavirus was discovered in the city of Wuhan, China. It is SARS-Cov2, responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). The first man to contract Covid-19 was reportedly contaminated by an animal because SARS-Cov2 is similar to a virus already identified in a bat. The animal responsible for transmission to humans has not been confirmed. However, several studies mention the pangolin as an intermediate host between the bat and humans, a small mammal consumed in southern China.

Coronavirus transmission

Coronavirus symptoms are manifested by:

fever ;
cough and sore throat;
respiratory discomfort;
headaches ;
fatigue.
It is transmitted from human to human by the projection of contaminated droplets (saliva, nasal secretions) when the person coughs or sneezes, and by a prolonged face to face (at least 15 minutes) with a person located less than a meter from you. without prevention measures, each patient infects between 2 and 3 people".

There are still many misconceptions about the means of transmission. It is therefore important to remember that Covid-19 is not transmitted by Chinese food, parcels from China, money or even mosquitoes.

How to protect yourself from COVID-19?

 without protection measures, the risk of covid19 contamination from one person to another is significant.

It is possible to reduce this risk through simple actions:

-wash your hands  regularly with soap and water or an alcoholic solution. Washing kills the virus if it is on your hands.
-cough or sneeze into your elbow or into a disposable  handkerchief.
-use only disposable tissues that you throw in the trash after use.
-stop shaking hands and kissing.
-do not put your hands into your mouth, nose or eyes. If the virus is on your hands, it can enter your body through these holes.
stand more than a meter from a person who is coughing or sneezing. If you are standing less than a meter away, you can inhale the droplets containing the virus (if the person is a carrier).
Stay at home in the presence of symptoms characteristic of Covid-19.
Find out about the regions where the virus is actively circulating and avoid going there.
If someone you know is infected, avoid being around them during their quarantine period. If you have been in contact with him, stay confined to your home for 14 days as well as the people with whom you have been in contact yourself.

What to do in case of contamination with coronavirus?

 If you think you are contaminated with Covid-19 (feeling of fever, cough, difficulty breathing), call your doctor to guide you on what to do. Above all, do not go directly to your doctor or the emergency room of a hospital, at the risk of infecting other people and clogging up health facilities. In the same way, do not call the SAMU, at 15, if you do not feel difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath so as not to clog the line. Potentially infected persons can be invited to go to one of the 138 establishments authorized for the treatment of Covid-19 in order to carry out a screening test.

Infected people with mild symptoms, similar to a cold or flu-like illness, are sent home and asked to stay confined for 14 days. Isolation means limiting travel, with the exception of medical appointments. If they are traveling, patients must wear a mask and notify the nursing staff of their arrival. At home, the patient (s) must wear masks if the other occupants are not contaminated and daily washing of frequently touched surfaces is to be expected.

Isolation is also recommended for people who have been in contact with a confirmed Covid-19 patient but who have no symptoms. If this is your case:
monitor your temperature twice a day.
watch for symptoms of respiratory infection (cough, discomfort in breathing).
avoid contact with vulnerable people (the elderly, the chronically ill, pregnant women).
Avoid places where there are fragile people.
avoid any non-essential outing (concert, demonstration, cinema, restaurant, etc.).
The duration of the incubation would be 6 days but it can go up to 14 days with a greater risk of contamination as soon as the first symptoms appear. Namely, an infected person can be asymptomatic.

The most severely ill patients may suffer from acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute renal failure or multi-visceral failure which can lead to death. Fortunately, these disorders concern a minority of cases of coronavirus and most often occur in the elderly or suffering from other chronic diseases (respiratory, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc.). These people are necessarily hospitalized in intensive care or intensive care.

To date, there is no treatment to treat this type of coronavirus infection. Treatment is to relieve symptoms.

Total containment measures for the coronavirus

Updated March 25, 2020 - Following the announcement by President Emmanuel Macron on Monday March 16 at 8 p.m., travel is now prohibited with the exception of the following cases and to be provided with the derogatory travel certificate. The reasons for travel are:

Travel between the home and the place of exercise of the professional activity, when they are essential for the exercise of activities which cannot be organized in the form of telework or professional displacements which cannot be deferred.
Travel to purchase supplies necessary for professional activity and purchases of basic necessities [1] in establishments whose activities remain authorized.
Consultations and care that cannot be provided remotely and that cannot be deferred; care of patients with long-term conditions.
Travel for compelling family reasons, for assistance to vulnerable people or childcare.
Brief trips, within the limit of one hour daily and within a maximum radius of one kilometer around the home, linked either to the individual physical activity of the people, to the exclusion of any collective sporting activity and any proximity to d 'other people, either walking with the only people in the same home, or the needs of pets.
Judicial or administrative summons.
Participation in missions of general interest at the request of the administrative authority.