COVID-19: This Is Today, What Next?

In a far off city called Wuhan in China, a bunch of people who were connected to the Huanan wet market takes ill with what seems like a common cold or flu at first, but which rapidly deteriorates into a Pneumonia and even as the doctors struggle to identify the cause and treat these few; people starts coming in overwhelming numbers with similar symptoms. The city is shut down and quarantined. People treated with the same medication like Tamiflu used to treat flu influenza.

Within a few weeks, they identify the cause, a new virus, with no cure or vaccination, which has by now crossed oceans and started spreading in far off lands, silently at first then like wildfire. It seems like the plot of a Hollywood thriller.

By the time we realized this is the reality we’ll have to live in, the infection was already at our doorsteps. All this is enough to make even the skeptics anxious. Let us find some real answers to some of the most common questions on your mind.

Why is it such a big deal?

The virus is highly contagious, every sick person gives it to at least 2-4 people, so it multiplies exponentially and although 80% people develop only mild disease, the 20% or so who get sick will need hospital beds which they will occupy for an average of 10 days. Since the virus spreads fast and the disease manifests shortly after an infection, if left unbridled many people get sick at the same time. Flu medicine like Tamiflu cannot work on it, so what we can do is preventive actions.

Why not just quarantine the sick and their contacts?

The virus produces symptoms anywhere between 5-14 days after entering the body. The virus spreads mainly through 2 modes- cough droplets and through surfaces that a sick person has touched after touching his own face or mouth or coughing or sneezing into his hands. The number of viruses in the secretions may already be high enough to transmit disease before we start showing symptoms.

What can be done now?

Stay indoors, follow the guidelines provided by the experts, do what the government tells you. Even if some of the policies do not look sensible immediately, time will tell you its value. Try to minimize the number of outings you need per week. Plan the menu and make a list of groceries and other consumables, like soap, hand wash, batteries, drinking water supply if you don’t have a filter at home. If you feel having common cold or other flu like symptoms take Tamiflu tablet by consulting the doctor over call.

TheTopMedStore.com