How to Save Yourself from COVID-19

From the end of 2019, the whole world is raged by a new disease called COVID-19. The disease was first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. China officially informed the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019. The disease is caused by a newly discovered coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The full name of the disease is coronavirus disease 2019 which gives the acronym COVID-19. COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease and the vaccine for it has not been invented yet. On January 30. 2020 the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern. The disease spread all over the world so rapidly that it was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. According to WHO, until July 4, 2020, there are a total number of 10,922,324 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and total deaths 523.011 globally. 213 countries of the world have been hit by this deadly disease.

As the disease is highly infectious and there are no specific treatments or vaccines for COVID-19, the best way to keep oneself safe from being infected by the virus is to be well-informed about the virus, the disease it causes, the symptoms of the disease and how it spreads. 

How the Virus Transmits: 

Primarily COVID-19 spreads through the discharge from the nose or the droplets of the saliva of an infected person. When an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks or makes other kinds of sounds, he may throw out droplets of his saliva or discharge from the nose. If other persons around that person inhale those droplets or discharge, then they will also be infected by COVID-19. The virus enters the body through the mouth, nose or eye. If an uninfected person touches anything that has the virus on it and then touches his mouth, eye or nose, he is at high risk of being infected.

Symptoms of COVID-19:

People with coronavirus disease show a wide range of symptoms. The symptoms range from mild symptoms to severe illness. The symptoms usually appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. According to WHO, the most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough and tiredness, serious symptoms include difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure and loss of speech or movement, less common symptoms are aches and pains, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, headache, loss of taste or smell and a rash on skin, or discolouration of fingers or toes.  The discolouration of fingers or toes has been nicknamed by dermatologists ‘covid toes’. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the USA included twelve symptoms in their list of symptoms of COVID-19. Recently they added three new symptoms – congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhoea. These are also in the list of twelve symptoms. But the list of symptoms is not limited to these only. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is changing its characters and so far it has changed itself several hundred times. So, new symptoms are being detected and the relevant organizations are updating their list from time to time.

How to Save Oneself from COVID-19:

Experts have suggested some basic rules to follow to keep oneself safe from being infected by COVID-19. If a person follows the rules, his chances of being infected are reduced to a great extent.

1. Washing Hands Regularly: We have to wash our hands regularly, thoroughly and frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used, but the sanitizer should contain at least 60% alcohol. Because soap and sanitizer kill the viruses that may be on our hands. Hands must be washed before eating or preparing food, before touching the face, after using the toilet, blowing the nose, coughing, or sneezing, after leaving a public place etc.

2. Maintaining Social Distance or Physical distance: People should maintain a distance of at least 1 meter (3 feet) between himself and other people around. Because while coughing, sneezing or speaking, people spray droplets of their nose or mouth which may contain viruses. If a person is too close to an infected person, he can breathe in the droplets with the virus. This will cause the person to be infected with COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests a physical distance of at least 2 meters or 6 feet (about 2 arms’ length).

3. Using Face Masks: While there are many people around or going outside, we have to wear a face mask that can cover the mouth and the nose. This will reduce the risk of inhaling virus-carrying droplets from the mouth or nose of other infected people.

4. Following Good Respiratory Hygiene: When we cough or sneeze, we have to follow good respiratory hygiene and social etiquette. When a person coughs or sneezes, he should cover his mouth and nose with his bent elbow or a tissue. Then he has to dispose of the used tissue immediately and wash his hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. We should never use open hands to cover our mouth and nose while coughing or sneezing. As droplets of mouth and nose may contain viruses, if we cough or sneeze openly the droplets will spread the virus among the people around us.

5. Avoiding Touching Mouth, Eye and Nose: We should avoid touching our mouth, eyes and nose with unwashed and unclean hands. Hands touch many surfaces that may have viruses. If the hands are contaminated and then touch the mouth or eyes or nose, viruses will go inside the body and infect us.

6. Avoiding Crowded Places: We have to avoid crowded places because it is difficult to maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet there and there is a higher risk of getting close to an infected person.
7. Cleaning the Home: We have to clean the house floor, frequently touched objects like door handles, switches, stair railing etc. regularly. It is safe to keep the shoes outside the door because the shoe-sole can carry viruses. Once we come back home from outside, we immediately wash the clothes and take a shower with soap. Our clothes can carry viruses if an infected person sneezes or coughs on the clothes.

8. Improving Immune System of the Body: As no vaccine has been invented yet, it is a better way to fight COVID-19 by improving our body’s immune system. For this, we should perform exercises, eat healthy food, take vitamins C and D, quit smoking etc.

9. Washing Groceries and Others: When we purchase groceries and other items from shop or the online sites supply us with goods at home, we must wash the packets, fruits, vegetables, even if possible banknotes, before storing them in pots and refrigerators. These things have been touched by many people. So, there is a high possibility of contamination with viruses.

If Infected by COVID-19:

If a person finds some symptoms of COVID-19 in himself or a family member, the first things to do are:

1. Isolate himself or the member of the family from other persons,
2. Stay at home,
3. Contact a doctor,
4. Follow the advice of the doctor,
5. Test for COVID-19,
6. Keep following the health conditions of the infected person,
7. If the condition deteriorates, take the patient to the hospital.

The COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease but it can be contained if some simple rules are maintained in our life. We need to change our lifestyle in some ways, follow the rules of cleanliness, take a healthy diet etc. The disease has impacted our way of living. Until we have vaccines to cure the disease, we need to be accustomed to the new rules of life. It has been coined as the Neo Normal of living. It is up to us how we deal with COVID-19 to keep us safe from it.