What is Coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that are identified as having crown-like spikes on their surface thus named as 'corona'. These viruses cause respiratory problems in birds and mammals. Seven coronaviruses can infect humans, out of which the SARS­-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus causing coronavirus disease 2019 now named as COVID-19 by World Health Organization) has been declared a public health.

What is Coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19?

Earlier known as “2019 novel coronavirus” has now been officially named as COVID-19 where "CO" is for "corona", "VI" is for "virus", "D" for "disease" and "19" for the year 2019 when it was first identified. COVID-19 is one of the seven members of the coronavirus family which has infected humans and has killed approximately 3000people till now and has infected almost 95,000 people.

From where did COVID-19 originate?

Although the exact date and period are still not known to the researchers in December of the year 2019, it appeared in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, China. It was first believed that the virus originated from the seafood market located in Wuhan, China but when on 1st December 2019 the first case was reported which had no connection to the seafood market.

These are the affected countries so far-

Countries affected by COVID-19 so far are 83 countries apart from China. These countries include –

• Afghanistan,
• Canada,
• India,
• Germany and so on.

The rate at which the disease is spreading is quite alarming hence this disease is termed as the ‘global health emergency’ by WHO.

 Affected areas in India from the COVID-19

On 30 January 2020 Kerala reported the first case of COVID-19. Apart from Kerala cities like

• New Delhi
• Mumbai
• Bangalore
• Patna
• Hyderabad
• 
  

Symptoms of COVID-19

The symptoms of COVID-19 can occur in around 2 to 14 days after getting infected from it. The common symptoms include-

• Fever
• Cough
• Difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath

These symptoms are somewhat similar to respiratory diseases. These symptoms can be mild or severe.

Treatments of COVID-19

Unfortunately, there is no current medicine for the treatment of COVID-19. The only way is prevention from the disease by avoiding exposure to the virus.

Precautions for COVID-19

The following precautions can be taken to prevent COVID-19 –

• Washing hands regularly with alcohol-based hand wash or with soap and water.
• Avoid touching nose, mouth or eyes by hand.
• Maintaining distance with people who are coughing and sneezing.
• Practice basic respiratory hygiene like when sneezing or coughing, covering mouth and nose with the bent elbow or tissue paper and then immediately disposing of the used tissue.
• Avoid eating undercooked meat.
• Avoid contact with live animals.
• 
  

Conclusion

Coronavirus disease or COVID-19 is a disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2 which infects the respiratory tract of birds and mammals including humans. It originated from Wuhan, the city in China. Symptoms of the disease include cough, fever and breathing problems. There is no current remedy available for the disease but precautions can be taken to prevent it, such as washing hands often, maintaining basic respiratory hygiene and avoiding undercooked meat. Although how badly this disease is going to spread is something no one can tell but definitely, the number of cases is rising in many parts of the world. Hence proper precautions should be taken to prevent it.